Staying Alive! Gades Beat Hoppers

STAYING ALIVE! GADES BEAT HOPPERS

They have a pulse.

The Hudson Valley Renegades held on for a 6-5 win over the Greensboro Grasshoppers on Wednesday night at Dutchess Stadium.

The Gades (69-47) are now three games back with four games remaining. They must win out to advance to the High-A East Championship Series against Bowling Green.

Down 2-0 in the bottom of the first, the Gades tied the game up on an Everson Pereira double and a force out by Jake Sanford. The Gades took control in the third as a ground out by Pat DeMarco, a double from Eric Wagaman, and a balk netted three runs for a 5-2 lead.

The Hoppers wouldn't go away, throwing one on the board in the fourth inning before Anthony Volpe had a skyscraping shot down the left-field line for his 14th home run with the Renegades.

Still, there's a reason the Hoppers (72-44) have a magic number of two. Greensboro got the game to 6-5 on a Blake Sabol two-run homer in the sixth.

On the mound, Beck Way started and worked four innings, allowing three earned runs with two walks and eight strikeouts. Edgar Barclay (1-2) earned the win allowing two runs (one earned) in 2.2 innings.

With the score 6-5 in the top of the seventh, Greensboro put two on with two out. Hudson Valley manager opted to go his closer, right-hander Derek Craft, who proceeded to work the final 2.1 innings. Craft allowed one hit with two walks and four strikeouts to earn his league-leading 10th save.

The Hoppers had the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the seventh and eighth, along with the tying run on in the ninth but Craft killed off each rally.

The teams meet again on Thursday.