Hudson Valley clobbers Hoppers 22-2

GREENSBORO ― After the rain moved through downtown, and the grounds crew rolled up the tarpaulin, it turned out to be a pleasant night at the old ballgame.

At least for the Hudson Valley Renegades, anyway.

Everson Pereira went 4-for-6 with two home runs, a walk, four runs scored and seven RBIs to lead the way as Hudson Valley clobbered the Greensboro Grasshoppers 22-2 at First National Bank Field on Friday night.

It was hands-down the worst home loss for the Hoppers since the franchise became a Pittsburgh affiliate in 2019, and certainly among the most lopsided since the downtown ballpark opened in 2005.

Carlos Narvaez went 3-for-6 with two homers and five RBIs for the Renegades. Anthony Seigler hit a three-run homer and Cooper Bowman added a solo shot.

In all, Hudson Valley went 23-for-48 (.479) in the game and 10-for-15 (.667) with runners in scoring position. All nine men in the lineup had at least one hit, and six finished with at least three hits.

The Renegades led 10-0 before Hudson Head, the ninth hitter in Greensboro’s lineup, stepped into the batter’s box for his first plate appearance of the game.

Yoyner Fajardo hit a two-run home run to account for both Hoppers runs. Sammy Siani and Abrahan Gutierrez had two hits apiece.

Greensboro used seven pitchers in the game ― infielder Claudio Finol pitched the ninth ― and all of them allowed hits and earned runs. They combined to throw 237 pitches.

Starter Justin Meis (0-1) lasted just ⅔ of an inning, allowing five runs on four hits and a walk.

NOTES

• The Hoppers have been outscored 27-5 since left fielder Jack Herman suffered a broken leg making a spectacular catch Wednesday night.
• Second baseman Yoyner Fajardo went 1-for-4 with his fourth home run of the season. The homer snapped an 0-for-16 drought over his last five-plus games, and his batting average has dropped from .330 to .283. Fajardo has hit safely in 21 of 30 games played, with 10 multi-hit games.
• First baseman Jacob Gonzalez went 1-for-4. He has been one of the South Atlantic League's best players since his promotion from Class-A Bradenton on May 10. He has hit safely in 23 of 29 games since then, with 11 multi-hit games. Gonzalez is 37-for-111 (.333) with six doubles, a triple, five home runs and 15 RBIs.
• Justin Meis, a 22-year-old right-hander, has made two starts in 10 days since joining the team. Meis has retired just two of the 12 batters he has faced, allowing eight earned runs on eight hits and two walks for an ERA of 108.00. He earned his promotion by going 3-4 with a 3.51 ERA in 10 games at Class-A Bradenton, striking out 42 in 41 innings of work.
• Center fielder Hudson Head, a 21-year-old rated by MLB Pipeline as the No. 20 prospect in Pittsburgh's farm system, went 0-for-2 with a walk and has reached base in 31 of his last 36 games.