Bats Drop Father's Day Finale to Saints 6-3
June 16, 2024 - International League (IL)
Louisville Bats News Release
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky - The Louisville Bats fell behind early, and a late comeback couldn't get them all the way back into the game in a 6-3 loss to the St. Paul Saints on Sunday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field.
The win completes a series sweep for the Saints and extends the Bats' season-long losing streak to seven games, dropping their record back to .500 at 34-34.
The troubling pattern that developed earlier in the week continued for the Bats. St. Paul leadoff man Edouard Julien connected on a home run off Bats starter Brandon Leibrandt's fifth pitch, putting the visitors ahead from the outset. Brooks Lee singled. Matt Wallner followed with a towering 481-foot two-run homer off the scoreboard in right-center field, putting St. Paul up 3-0 after their first turn at the plate.
Pitching with the lead from the start, St. Paul righty Caleb Boushley cruised with a little help from his defense. On his first pitch, Bats leadoff hitter Blake Dunn crushed a deep fly ball over 400 feet to center. Saints center fielder Will Holland raced back to the wall and made a leaping catch with his glove over the fence, taking a home run away from Dunn to keep the Bats off the board and keep the momentum with the Saints.
From there, Boushley kept the Bats hitless until the bottom of the fourth, when Livan Soto singled to left with one out. It was quickly erased as Noelvi Marte grounded into an inning-ending double play.
St. Paul added to the lead in the fifth on a solo home run from Yunior Severino, his 13th of the season to extend the lead to four. In the sixth, Leibrandt struck out the first two hitters he faced before a double from Holland ended his outing. Alex Young struck out Julien to end the inning. Over 5.2 innings, Leibrandt (L, 1-1) gave up four earned runs on nine hits with a season-high seven strikeouts, suffering his first loss with Louisville.
Louisville finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth when Dunn refused to be denied for the second time, this time lifting a high fly ball 379 feet over the tall wall in straightaway left field for his fifth home run of the season, trimming the Bats' deficit to 4-1.
The Saints got their lead back to four in the top of the seventh on Wallner's second home run of the game and 16th of the season, a solo blast to right.
The Bats again fought back in the bottom of the seventh. Edwin Rios reached with a two-out single up the middle. Michael Trautwein then laced a triple into the right field corner, his second of the year to bring Rios all the way home. Two hitters later, Hernan Perez's RBI single plated Trautwein to bring the deficit to 5-3, the closest the Bats got all afternoon. Boushley (W, 7-1) would earn the win after allowing three earned runs on five hits with three strikeouts over 6.2 innings.
Again, the Saints responded with a run in the eighth off Yosver Zulueta, making the score 6-3. Saints reliever Ryan Jensen tossed a scoreless eighth to maintain the lead.
In the ninth, Bats closer Tony Santillan fired a scoreless inning to hold the deficit. Ronny Henriquez (S, 2) nailed down the save with a clean bottom of the ninth for the Saints.
Offensively, Soto was the only Bat to record more than one hit, going 2-for-4. Trautwein drove in a run with the triple while going 1-for-2 with a walk.
The Bats (34-34) begin a two-week road trip with a six-game series against the Omaha Storm Chasers starting on Tuesday afternoon. First pitch at Werner Park is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Nick Curran will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.
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