HVR Game Notes – September 4, 2022
September 4, 2022 – South Atlantic League (SAL) – Hudson Valley Renegades News Release
Jersey Shore BlueClaws (46-79, 21-38) vs. Hudson Valley Renegades (69-55, 35-23)
RHP Dominic Pipkin (2-7, 5.74 ERA) vs. RHP Juan Carela (1-2, 8.38 ERA)
| Game 125 | Home Game 65 | Dutchess Stadium | Wappingers Falls, N.Y. | Sept. 4, 2022 | First Pitch 2:05 p.m. |
THE FINAL COUNTDOWN: The Renegades finish 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 8-3 on its current 12-game homestand after a win on Saturday 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 seven games left to play this season, the SAL North Division is one of the races in Minor League Baseball. The Renegades are in first place ahead of Brooklyn, just 0.5 games ahead, but the Gades hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. Entering play Sunday afternoon, Jersey Shore is the only SAL North team eliminated from playoff contention. That being said, both Wilmington and Greensboro can be eliminated on Sunday.
IT’S MAGIC, YOU KNOW: With seven games left to play the Hudson Valley Renegades’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot is seven. Any combination of Renegades wins and Cyclones losses adding up to seven sends Hudson Valley from the playoffs.
ABOUT LAST NIGHT: The Renegades offense exploded for a 13-2 win over the Jersey Shore BlueClaws on Saturday night. After taking an early lead Grant Richardson blew the game open with a three-run triple in the sixth. Blane Abeyta allowed two unearned runs in 4.2 innings, while three relievers threw 4.1 scoreless behind him.
STINGY PITCHING: Hudson Valley pitchers have allowed just two earned runs in the last four games, a span of 35.0 innings. That is good for a 0.51 ERA since the start of Game 2 on Wednesday night.
UNPRECEDENTED STRIKEOUT NUMBERS: With 19 strikeouts on Friday night against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, the Renegades set a new Portal Era (2005-Present) record for most strikeouts in a game. The team has recorded 18 strikeouts five times, most recently on June 19 at Greensboro. Only Rome (20 K vs Greensboro on April 29) has recorded more strikeouts in a game this year in the SAL.
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 Saturday’s 13-2 win over Jersey Shore, Hudson Valley is now 34-3 (.919) this season when scoring 7-or-more runs. The Gades are 35-51 (.407) 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 15-18 (.455) in one-run games and 11-14 (.440) in two-run games. Overall, the Gades are 26-32 (.448) 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 74-50 based on their run differential.
GAS STATION: Strength in pitching is a theme across the New York Yankees minor league system and the Renegades are no exception. The staff sports a 3.63 ERA on the season, best in the South Atlantic League. It also is the third-best staff ERA in High-A, and fifth-best in the minor leagues. All four Yankees affiliated teams rank in the top 30 in the minors in ERA — Somerset 3.51, 2nd; Tampa 3.85, 16th; Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 4.01, t26th.
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 Sunday with 226 stolen bases on the year, fourth-most in the minors behind Down East (A, TEX — 295), Lake Elsinore (A, SD — 238) and Charleston (A, TB — 233). The Renegades’ 200th steal of the season was Spencer Henson swiping third at Brooklyn on August 18.
• Discuss this story on the South Atlantic League message board…
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
