Downed In Delaware: Gades eliminated in heartbreaker

Wilmington, Del. (Sept. 9, 2022) – The Hudson Valley Renegades dropped a heartbreaker to the Wilmington Blue Rocks 5-4 on Saturday night at Frawley Stadium.

The Renegades rallied for four runs in the top of the second inning against Michael Cuevas to take an early lead. Carlos Narvaez doubled and scored on a Ben Cowles triple. Aldenis Sanchez followed with an RBI double, and two batters later, Jasson Dominguez clobbered a two-run home run to make it 4-0 Hudson Valley.

Dominguez finished 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs and a run scored. The round tripper was his fourth with Hudson Valley, and his 13th overall on the season.

The Blue Rocks responded with two runs in the bottom of the second off Blane Abeyta. With one out and the bases loaded, Ricardo Mendez hit a ground ball to first that went off the glove of T.J. Rumfield, scoring Leandro Emiliani. A Cole Daily sacrifice fly plated Onix Vega to cut the lead to 4-2.

Wilmington took the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Viandel Pena lined a two-run triple to right off Abeyta (5-8) to tie the game at 4-4. Trevor Holloway came in and uncorked a wild pitch to plate Pena with the go-ahead run.

After walking the first two batters he faced, Holloway retired the last seven batters he faced in 2.1 innings. He combined with Nelson Alvarez to set down 13 of the final 14 Blue Rocks hitters of the game.

Hudson Valley threatened in the sixth, putting runners on first and third with one out against Jack Sinclair, but could not score. Sinclair (2-1) tossed 2.2 scoreless innings in relief to pick up the win.

In the ninth, Amos Willingham struck out three and worked around a two out single to earn his third save of the season.

With the loss and a win by the Brooklyn Cyclones on Friday, the Hudson Valley Renegades were eliminated from playoff contention.

The Renegades continue their series with the Blue Rocks on Saturday night at Frawley Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Hudson Valley sends RHP Juan Carela (1-3, 7.50) to the mound, opposed by LHP Dustin Saenz (2-7, 7.34) for Wilmington. Coverage on the Renegades Baseball Network begins at 6:15.