Five Pitchers Combine on a Five-Hit Shutout of Bats, 3-0
IL St. Paul Saints

Five Pitchers Combine on a Five-Hit Shutout of Bats, 3-0

Published on May 31, 2026 under International League (IL)
St. Paul Saints News Release


LOUISVILLE, KY - For the second consecutive day the St. Paul Saints starter was promoted to the Minnesota Twins. For the second consecutive day a bullpen by committee arsenal silenced the Louisville Bats. Five pitchers combined on a five-hit shutout in a 3-0 victory at Louisville Slugger Field as the Saints took four out of six in the series.

Trent Baker was the first arm used and he gave up a two-out double to the league's best hitter, Noelvi Marte. Baker got Michael Toglia to ground out to end the inning. Baker went 1.0 shutout inning allowing one hit.

Ben Ross led off the second with a double down the third base line, took third on a groundout, and scored on David Bañuelos' bloop single into shallow center making it 1-0.

C.J. Culpepper took over in the second inning and retired the first six men he faced before giving up a leadoff double to Héctor Rodriguez in the fourth. After a flyout by Marte moved Rodriguez to third, Culpepper got back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning and his day. He went 3.0 innings allowing one hit and striking out five.

Ricky Castro, who was called up from Double-A Wichita and landed an hour before game time, took over in the fifth. He showed no signs of jet lag retiring the first five men he faced before giving up a two out double to Rodriguez in the sixth. Castro then got Marte to line out to second to end the inning. He went 3.0 innings allowing one hit and striking out three.

The Saints left 10 men on base in the first six innings and finally cashed in with runners in scoring position in the seventh. With two outs and nobody on they loaded the bases on a single to right by Aaron Sabato, a double to left by Gabby Gonzalez, and a walk to Ben Ross. Tanner Schobel's infield RBI single to second scored Sabato putting the Saints up 2-0.

Veteran Drew Smith pitched a perfect eighth inning for the Saints and recorded a strikeout.

Matt Wallner finally hit his first home run for the Saints, a solo blast on a 98.0 mph sinker that he crushed 425 feet over the right-center field wall in the ninth, a solo homer, giving the Saints a 3-0 lead. Wallner went 2-5 with a home run, RBI, and a run scored.

In the bottom of the ninth Grant Hartwig closed it out. After giving up back-to-back singles to start the inning, he got a ground ball double play and a pop out to pick up his third save of the season.

It was the second shutout of the season for the Saints, their other one came on April 25 a 4-0 victory at Indianapolis.

The Saints are off on Monday and return to action on Tuesday night at CHS Field at 7:05 p.m. against the Indianapolis Indians. Both teams are TBA. The game can be seen on the Saints Broadcast Network presented by the Northland Ford Dealers, cable access channels in and around the Twin Cities area, MLB.TV, MLB+, and the Bally Sports Live app, and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.

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International League Stories from May 31, 2026


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