HVR Game Notes – September 2, 2022
September 2, 2022 – South Atlantic League (SAL) – Hudson Valley Renegades News Release
Jersey Shore BlueClaws (46-77, 21-36) vs. Hudson Valley Renegades (67-55, 33-23)
LHP Jordi Martinez (First Start) vs. LHP Edgar Barclay (6-4, 1.98 ERA)
| Game 123 | Home Game 63 | Dutchess Stadium | Wappingers Falls, N.Y. | Sept. 2, 2022 | First Pitch 7:05 p.m. |
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: The Renegades continue their final home series of the 2022 regular season tonight as they host the Jersey Shore BlueClaws in a six-game series. Hudson Valley is 6-3 on its current 12-game homestand after a win on Thursday night. The BlueClaws entered the series having lost seven in a row, including a six-game sweep last week by the Brooklyn Cyclones.
GETTING HEATED IN THE SAL NORTH: With nine games left to play this season, the SAL North Division is one of the races in Minor League Baseball. The Renegades are in second place behind Brooklyn, just 0.5 games back, but the Gades hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. Entering play Friday night, Jersey Shore is the only SAL North team eliminated from playoff contention.
I WRITE NOTES, NOT TRAGEDIES: With nine games left to play the Hudson Valley Renegades’ elimination number (a.k.a. “tragic number”) behind the Brooklyn Cyclones is nine. Any combination of Renegades losses and Cyclones wins eliminates Hudson Valley from the playoffs.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Renegades shut out the Jersey Shore BlueClaws Thursday night 8-0. Richard Fitts turned in another strong start, tossing 5.2 shutout innings to open, and Bailey Dees and Enrique Santana both had scoreless appearances in their High-A debuts. Aaron Palensky went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI, while Tyler Hardman doubled and drove in two runs.
MAMMA SAID SHUT YOU OUT: The shutout victory over Jersey Shore on Thursday was the ninth shutout of the season thrown by the Renegades. Incredibly, four of them have come at the expense of Jersey Shore, with the others on May 8 (G1), June 11 and July 4.
SOONER BOOMER: With his 20th and 21st home runs of the season Wednesday, Tyler Hardman edged closer to the Renegades single-season home run record, and is now just three behind Dan Grummitt (22 in 1999). Hardman also sits third on the Renegades career home run list behind Grummitt and Everson Pereira (23). After having just six double-digit home run seasons in team history from 1994-2019, 11 Renegades have hit 10-or-more longballs since 2021, coinciding with the move to full-season baseball and the Yankees affiliation.
LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN: Scoring many runs gives a team a better chance to win a baseball game, and the 2022 Renegades are no exception. With Thursday’s 8-0 win over Jersey Shore, Hudson Valley is now 33-3 (.917) this season when scoring 7-or-more runs. The Gades are 34-51 (.400) when scoring 7-or-fewer runs.
DRIVING THEM IN AT A RECORD PACE: Renegades INF Tyler Hardman set the Renegades single-season RBI record on August 17 with a ninth-inning double off Brooklyn’s Keyshawn Askew. With his 59th RBI of the season, Hardman surpassed the mark set by Dan Grummitt in 1999. Hardman currently ranks second all-time on the Renegades RBI list, behind Jacson McGowan’s club record 82.
CLOSE GAME TROUBLES: Throughout the season, the Renegades have struggled in close games, going 14-18 (.438) in one-run games and 11-14 (.440) in two-run games. Overall, the Gades are 25-32 (.439) in such contests, a disappointing mark. On average, teams finish around .500 in such games. The struggles in one- and two-run games are part of the reason why the Renegades are five games worse than their expected win-loss record of 72-50 based on their run differential.
PINSTRIPED PITCHING PROWESS: Strength in pitching is a theme across the New York Yankees minor league system and the Renegades are no exception. The staff sports a 3.68 ERA on the season, best in the South Atlantic League. It also is the third-best staff ERA in High-A, and 7th-best in the minor leagues. All four Yankees affiliated teams rank in the top 30 in the minors in ERA — Somerset 3.55, 2nd; Tampa 3.86, t17th; Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 4.04, 28th.
A DAY AT THE RACES: With Carlos Narvaez’s steal of third base in the seventh inning on July 6, the Renegades stole their collective 150th base of the season to set a new franchise record. It took only 77 games to break the record that was set by the 2021 Renegades in 120 games. The Gades enter play Friday with 220 stolen bases on the year, fourth-most in the minors behind Down East (A, TEX — 288), Lake Elsinore (A, SD — 235) and Charleston (A, TB — 230). The Renegades’ 200th steal of the season was Spencer Henson swiping third at Brooklyn on August 18.
GOING STREAKING: The Renegades have two players currently on lengthy on-base streaks, with T.J. Rumfield having reached base safely in 14 straight games, and Grant Richardson having gotten on in 13 straight. Those are two of the four longest streaks by a Renegade this year, with Trey Sweeney’s 20-game on-base streak from June 25-July 26 being the standard bearer. Rumfield is also riding a nine-game hitting streak, the longest of the year by a Renegade, and just one of three streaks of eight-or-more all season.
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