Lewis Homers in First at Bat, But Saints Can't Prevent Leadoff Hitters from Reaching, Scoring, in 11-3 Loss
IL St. Paul Saints

Lewis Homers in First at Bat, But Saints Can't Prevent Leadoff Hitters from Reaching, Scoring, in 11-3 Loss

Published on May 21, 2026 under International League (IL)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN - Royce Lewis put a charge into the ballpark on his first swing since being optioned. Unfortunately, the Omaha Storm Chasers had the leadoff man reach in six of nine innings, and they scored each time, as the Saints fell 11-3 on Thursday night at CHS Field in front of 5,492

Just two batters into the game and the Storm Chasers took a 1-0 lead. Josh Rojas lined the first pitch of the game into right field for a single. That was followed by an RBI double into right-center by John Rave.

Three batters into the bottom of the inning and the Saints grabbed the lead. Kaelen Culpepper led off with an infield single to short. Two batters later, on the first pitch he saw, Lewis crushed a two-run homer to left, his third with the Saints, making it 2-1. Lewis has now homered in three straight games with the Saints, the two Major League rehab appearances and on Thursday. It's the first time in his career he's homered in three straight games. He finished the night 1-4 with a home run, two RBI, and a run scored.

After John Klein retired eight in a row following the first inning double, he gave up a leadoff walk to Rave in the fourth. Kameron Misner followed with an RBI double to right-center knotting the game at two.

Gavin Cross put the Storm Chasers up in the fifth with a leadoff opposite field home run to left, his first Triple-A long ball, making it 3-2. With one out Dustin Dickerson singled to right and scored on a double to right-center by Rojas upping the lead to 4-2.

For the fourth time in the first six innings, the Storm Chasers got the leadoff man on and he came into score. Drew Waters led off with a single to center and that was followed by a walk to Brett Squires. Luca Tresh made it 5-2 with an RBI single to right as Squires took third. With one out a sacrifice fly by Abraham Toro extended the Storm Chasers lead to 6-2.

Hendry Mendez cut the deficit to three with a leadoff homer in the sixth, his second of the season, getting the Saints to within 6-3. Mendez has a hit in 10 of his 13 games at Triple-A and has reached base safely in all 13.

Back-to-back singles by Rojas and Rave started the seventh for the Storm Chasers that put runners at the corners. A wild pitch scored Rojas giving the Storm Chasers a 7-3 lead. With one out Waters roped an RBI single to center increasing the lead to 8-3. With two outs Luca Tresh's RBI infield single upped the lead to 9-3.

The ninth inning was no different for the Storm Chasers as Waters led off with a single to right-center. With one out Tresh singled to right putting runners at first and second. After a groundout moved the runners up, Toro doubled home a pair to put the finishing touched on an 11-3 game.

The same two teams meet in game four of a six-game series at CHS Field on Friday night at 6:37 p.m. The Saints send RHP Ryan Gallagher (0-1, 7.80) to the mound against Storm Chasers RHP Aaron Sanchez (0-4, 7.13). The game can be seen on FOX 9+, 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 21, 2026


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