homer happy

As home run celebrations go, Hunter Renfroe’s on Thursday was a little bit unusual and a whole lot exhilarating. You can’t watch it without feeling his emotion. The ex-Mississippi State standout yanked a ninth-inning grand slam that put San Diego ahead of Milwaukee at Miller Park. After he hit it, Renfroe bent forward in a bow with the bat clutched in front of him, as if to say, “Oooh, I got all of that one.” “It was just like, ‘[Heck] yeah!'” Renfroe told mlb.com. “Let’s be honest here, that’s just the way it was.” He then flipped the bat away and broke into his trot. His teammates went bonkers. The Padres would win 8-4. The resurgent Renfroe has homered in four straight games and now has 12 on the season. He is creeping up on the leaders in the All-Mississippi Home Run Derby, currently topped by Brian Dozier, the Southern Miss alum who hit his 19th – third with the Los Angeles Dodgers — on Thursday. (With 170 career bombs, Dozier trails fifth-place Dmitri Young by one on the all-time list of homers by Magnolia State natives.) Former East Central Community College star Tim Anderson has 15 homers this season and State alum Mitch Moreland sits on 14. (Moreland is ninth on the career list with 146.) Ex-Meridian CC standout Corey Dickerson now trails Renfroe with 11.