Whitley doing it all for surging Renegades

Class A Short Season Hudson Valley has reeled off 12 straight wins since the New York-Penn League All-Star break, and Garrett Whitley has been at the center of the streak.

The Rays' eighth-ranked prospect has hit in eight of his last 10 games, with four multi-hit efforts, four RBIs and five stolen bases. He topped that Sunday by enjoying a career night.

Whitley recorded his first four-hit game as a pro and drove in two runs as the Renegades outlasted Aberdeen, 7-5, in 13 innings at Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium.

"Today was just one of those days where you're seeing the ball really well right out of the pitcher's hand, so when I got a good pitch to hit, I capitalized on it and didn't miss it," he said. "[Aberdeen's] pitchers were throwing a lot of fastballs today, too, so I knew I would get one in the hitting zone eventually."

Whitley singled to left field in the first inning, ripped a two-out RBI single to center in the second and bounced out to third base in the fourth. He collected his third single with a leadoff knock in the seventh, took second on an error by Orioles No. 20 prospect Preston Palmeiro on a pickoff attempt, moved to third on Miles Mastrobuoni's single and scored on a wild pitch.

The 19-year-old bounced out in the ninth and popped to second to end the 11th.

In the 13th, Jonathan Popadics drew a leadoff walk and Rays No. 16 prospect Jake Fraley walked two outs later to set the table for Whitley. Two straight wild pitches by reliever Will Shepley (1-2) scored the go-ahead run and Whitley laced a triple on the ninth pitch of the at-bat to plate Fraley with an insurance tally.

"I wanted to win the battle," the New York native said. "I knew my job was obviously to drive those runners in and it was made a lot easier once [Popadics] scored on that second wild pitch, but even then I knew that an insurance run would be huge. I knew that the pitcher probably wasn't going to throw another slider in that situation, so I was trying to get extended on a fastball and hit one hard somewhere."

After being drafted 13th overall by the Rays last year, Whitley slashed .174/.293/.312 in 138 at-bats in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and with Hudson Valley. He began this season back with the Renegades and .196 in 12 games in June. But his numbers have climbed each month as he slashed .236/.333/.326 with 13 RBIs in July games and is hitting .292 with a homer and 14 RBIs in 22 games this month. He's also stolen 20 bases in 22 tries.

"[I'm] pretty comfortable and I've been able to find a place with my swing that I'm happy with and hope to be able to continue the success to finish out this season strong," Whitley said. "To be able to [come through and find my groove] in a situation like the one we have going on here is even better. We have a great group of guys here and we're trying to keep this win streak going through the final game. It's a lot of fun to play on a team like this."

Fraley doubled twice out of the leadoff spot and has hit safely in 21 of his last 24 games.

Garrett Fulenchek (1-3) got the win after allowing a hit and a walk while striking out four over two scoreless innings.

Orioles No. 14 prospect Austin Hays slugged a two-run homer and singled for the IronBirds. No. 29 prospect Alex Wells started for Aberdeen and gave up three runs on five hits and three walks while fanning seven through innings.