Struggling at the Wrong Time

WAPPINGERS FALLS, NY- Squandered opportunities and strikeouts continued to plague the Hudson Valley Renegades as they were swept in a three-game series Monday evening to the Staten Island Yankees 4-3 in front of 3,833 fans from Dutchess Stadium. Hudson Valley left 12 men on base, including eight in the first four innings, and struck out 13 more times to give them 33 for the series. It was also the Renegades' fifth loss in their last seven games as their division lead shrunk to a 0.5 game. 
 
The squandered chances started in the first. With one out, the Renegades had runners at the corners before first baseman Jacson McGowan grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat.  
 
Hudson Valley started the scoring in the second. Third baseman Mason Mallard started the frame with a groundball single to center. After a fly out to right from leftfielder K.V. Edwards moved him to third, Mallard would score on strike three-wild pitch from Staten Island starter Alex Mejias to give the Renegades a 1-0 lead. 
 
However, Hudson Valley loaded the bases in the third and fourth innings but came away with only one run as Edwards struck out swinging to end the third, and McGowan was caught looking to end the fourth. 
 
Staten Island would get the run back in their half of the fourth as first baseman Mitchell Robinson launched a solo homer over the leftfield wall. It was his second homerun of the season and tied the game at one. 
 
The Renegades though, took the lead right back in the fourth. Sogard and catcher Jonathan Embry started the inning with walks, then moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt from second baseman Cristhian Pedroza. Shortstop Greg Jones stood in next and roped an RBI single to center to bring in Sogard and give Hudson Valley a 2-1 lead. 
 
They would extend that lead with another run in the fifth. Mallard led off the inning with a single, then tried to advance to third on another single from Edwards but was thrown out on a great peg from Yankees rightfielder Jake Sanford. One the play, Edwards advanced to second. He swiped third, then scored when Sogard lifted a sacrifice fly to left to up the Hudson Valley lead to 3-1. 
 
But it wouldn't last as Staten Island came back with three in the sixth. With two outs and a runner at third, Renegades reliever Eleardo Cabrera issued a walk to .132 hitting Yankees centerfielder Pat DeMarco. Second baseman Matt Pita followed with an RBI single to left as DeMarco raced for third. On the play, Hudson Valley missed the cutoff man on a throw to third, which allowed Pita to take second. It hurt because catcher Jerry Seitz came up next and rocketed a ground-rule double to right-center to give the Yankees the lead. 
 
After that, the Renegades had several opportunities to tie the game, but came up empty. In the seventh, McGowan doubled and went to third with one out, but Edwards struck out and Sogard grounded to second to end the inning. In the eighth, they had a runner at second with one away before Jones and centerfielder Garrett Hiott were caught looking to get Staten Island out of the jam. 
 
In the ninth, a three-base fielding error by DeMarco off the bat of Mallard put the tying run at third with two away. However, Yankees closer Barrett Loseke struck out Edwards swinging to end the game.   
 
Staten Island had seven hits with shortstop Josh Smith going 2-3 with a triple, two walks and two stolen bases. Hudson Valley collected nine hits as Mallard went 3-5 with three singles and a run scored. Jones and Hiott chipped in with two singles apiece with Jones registering an RBI. 
 
The win went Yankees reliever Wellington Diaz (3-4) as he allowed a run on four hits over 3.1 innings with four strikeouts. The loss fell to Renegades relief man Eleardo Cabrera (1-1) who surrendered three runs on three hits over two frames. The save by Loseke was his third as he struck out three of the four men he faced in one inning of work.  
 
The Renegades will take the next two days off for the All-Star Break before returning to action on Thursday in Troy against the Tri-City ValleyCats with a 7:00 start. Hudson Valley will start right-hander Edisson Gonzalez (4-2, 2.81 ERA) against a to-be-determined pitcher for Tri-City. 
 
Hudson Valley returns to Dutchess Stadium on Saturday, August 24th where they will begin a four-game homestand with a single contest against Tri-City. First-pitch is slated for 6:05. Tickets are on sale and can be purchased online at hvrenegades.com, at the Dutchess Stadium ticket window, or by calling the ticket office at (845) 838-0094.