Former MSU player Renfroe has a huge night in San Diego
SAN DIEGO — It appears Petco Park is going to have a hard time holding Hunter Renfroe.
The rookie hit his first career grand slam and also had a threerun shot to drive in all the runs for the San Diego Padres in their 7-1 victory against the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.
Renfroe says he's felt comfortable at the big downtown ballyard since his first big league plate appearance Wednesday night, when he was intentionally walked.
Since then he's hit three impressive home runs, including his first one off San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner on Friday night.
"I'm very comfortable," said Renfroe, San Diego's first-round pick in the 2013 draft and this year's Pacific Coast League MVP.
He hit a high, arcing three-run homer to left field off Kenta Maeda with two outs in the first inning. Renfroe's grand slam to straightaway center came on a full-count pitch from Louis Coleman with two outs in the eighth. Renfroe has three homers in six games.
Padres manager Andy Green said Renfroe's grand slam, which came on a fastball after he fouled off several sliders, "was about as hard as I've seen a baseball hit all year.
"Hunter Renfroe is going to be a dynamic player at this level when he stays in the strike zone," Green said. "There's really no other message for him or about him. He can hit anything. He just has to get him over the plate. When he does that, it's as much damage as anybody would have." Renfroe's seven RBIs were one shy of the team record. The rookie said he's keeping things in perspective. "One of the big things is you can't think of it as more than what it is," he said. "It's a game. You've been playing it since you're 4 years old or what have you. You can't think of it more than that. It's just on a bigger stage and more fans and everything is kind of magnified. You can't think too much in it. You can't be afraid to fail."