Fresh off of his impressive showing in the Arizona Fall League's annual Fall Stars game, in which he mashed a head-turning home run, Hunter Renfroe didn't miss a beat as he returned to regular AFL play. The 2013 first-round pick of the Padres accumulated 10 total bases in four at-bats, driving in five runs and scoring four, as his Surprise Saguaros steamrolled the Glendale Desert Dogs by the score of Tony Gwynn to Steve Garvey.
The Saguaros were already on the board by the time Renfroe came to the plate in the first, thanks to the efforts of two fellow members of the Padres organization. Mallex Smith led off the game with a walk, and of course stole second base; he was then doubled in by Jace Peterson, who saw time with the big-league Padres this year. After Patrick Kivlehan was hit by a pitch and Mike Miller struck out looking, Renfroe mashed a ball to deep center. It stayed in the park, but Renfroe was able to round the bases without even bothering to slide for his first homer of the day.
Renfroe flied out in the fourth inning against lefty Michael Strong, the only time he was retired in the game. With the score tied in the seventh inning, Renfroe put the Saguaros back on top for good with a one-run double to make the score 5-4. Surprise went on to plate 11 more runs in that inning; Renfroe scored two of the runs, the second coming after a two-out walk.
With the score 16-4 after eight innings, Renfroe led off the ninth and added insult to injury with another home run; this one cleared the fence. His teammates added a pair of runs, as did the Desert Dogs in the bottom of the inning, for the final 13-run margin. Renfroe finished the day 3-5 with a walk and 10 total bases on a double and two home runs. He drove in five runs and scored all four times he reached base. His big day boosted his slash line over 68 AFL at-bats to .279/ .372/ .574 (.945 OPS) while doubling his home run output. He also now has six doubles, 12 runs scored, and 13 RBI to his name, and his 39 total bases leads the club.