IL St. Paul Saints

Despite Two Homers from Jermaine Palacios Saints Fall Short, 5-4 in 10 to I-Cubs

Published on July 29, 2022 under International League (IL)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN - There is no one hotter in big situations right now than Jermaine Palacios. On Thursday night he hit a game-tying solo homer in the eighth. On Friday night he hit not one, but two game-tying homers in the seventh and ninth. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as the St. Paul Saints lost 5-4 in 10 to the Iowa Cubs at CHS Field in front of the largest crowd of the season, 9,385.

With the Saints down 3-1 in the seventh, Michael Helman walked with one out. With two outs Jermaine Palacios knotted the game at three with a two-run homer to right, his second in as many nights and eighth of the season.

It didn't stay tied for long because on the first pitch of the eighth inning Narciso Crook untied it with a solo homer to left, his 16th of the season, giving the I-Cubs a 4-3 lead. It was the lone mistake by reliever Dereck Rodríguez who was superb going 5.1 innings allowing one run on three hits while walking one and striking out three.

The Saints were down to their final two outs in the ninth, but Palacios tied it once again. He drilled a solo homer to left, his second of the night, third in the last two games and ninth of the season, knotting the game at four.

In the 10th, with the placed runner Dixon Machado at second, Darius Hill singled to left putting runners at the corners. Matt Mervis then hit a grounder to Tim Beckham at first and he threw home to cut down Machado as the runners advanced to second and third. After a walk to Crook loaded the bases, Zach Davis hit a grounder to third and Michael Helman forced the runner at the plate. A wild pitch, however, plated the go ahead run giving the I-Cubs a 5-4 lead.

The Saints had a golden opportunity in the bottom of the 10th. With Elliot Soto the placed runner at second, José Godoy led off with a walk. With one out Spencer Steer walked to load the bases. It was the season tying 11th walk for the Saints on the night. For the third time on the night the Saints had the bases loaded, but Jake Cave ended the game by grounding into a 3-2-3 double play. The Saints managed just one run with the bases loaded on the night and were 1-10 with runners in scoring positon.

The I-Cubs grabbed a pair of runs in the first courtesy of two solo homers. Machado led off the game with a solo homer to left, his second of the season, making it 1-0. Two batters later Matt Mervis hit a solo homer to right, his second of the season, increasing the lead to 2-0.

The Saints plated a run in the bottom of the inning aided by three walks that loaded the bases. With two outs, Curtis Terry singled off the glove of pitcher Caleb Kilian that knocked home Steer cutting the deficit to 2-1.

In the second, the I-Cubs took a 3-1 lead as John Hicks reached on a one out double and scored on a two-out bloop single just inside the rightfield line by Erik Castillo.

The same two teams meet in game five of a six-game series on Saturday night at 7:07 p.m. The Saints send RHP Cole Sands (1-5, 6.02) to the mound against I-Cubs RHP Anderson Espinoza (0-0, 0.00). The game can be seen on FOX9+ and MiLB.TV and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.

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International League Stories from July 29, 2022


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