Bats Drop Opener in St. Paul 3-1
Published on July 17, 2026 under International League (IL)
Louisville Bats News Release
In their first game after the All-Star break, the Louisville Bats offense was quiet while a trio of St. Paul Saints home runs in the fifth inning were the difference in a 3-1 loss on Friday night.
The game was a scoreless battle between Saints starter Jack Anderson and Bats righty Jose Franco for four innings.
Leading off the bottom of the fifth, the Saints got the breakthrough they were looking for on a long solo home run from Cody Morissette before Franco got the first out of the inning. But Noah Cardenas and Walker Jenkins followed with back-to-back home runs, extending the Saints' lead to 3-0 and led to Franco's removal from the game.
Louisville struggled after that, as Cole Sands tossed two scoreless innings and Aaron Rozek tossed a clean sixth. In the bottom of the sixth, a pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases for the Saints with nobody out against Johnathan Lavallee. Zach McCambley was called on to try and put out the fire and did just that, striking out the first three Saints he faced to strand the inning and keep the bases loaded.
The Bats looked to get back in the game in the seventh, as Michael Chavis led off the inning with his 17th home run of the season, a solo shot. Two hitters later, Will Banfield doubled off the left field fence to bring the tying run to the plate. Carlos Jorge then hit a blooper to shallow left field, where Saints third baseman Ben Ross made a spectacular catch to end the inning with the home team up 3-1.
Louisville couldn't get closer from there, suffering the loss to open the four-game weekend series.
Next Games: Saturday, July 18, 5:37 p.m. E.T. Doubleheader at St. Paul Saints (Triple-A Affiliate of the Minnesota Twins)
Game 1 Probable Pitchers: Bats RHP Jose Acuña (1-0, 5.40) vs. Saints RHP Ryan Gallagher (2-4, 7.44)
Game 2 Probable Pitchers: Bats RHP Davis Daniel (5-7, 4.80) vs. Saints RHP Ricky Castro (2-1, 4.50)
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