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IL St. Paul Saints

Maeda Sharp in Rehab, Saints Fall to I-Cubs 9-3

June 10, 2023 - International League (IL)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN - In his third Major League rehab appearance, Kenta Maeda showed he is getting closer to being ready. Unfortunately, after he departed the game after 4.0 innings, the St. Paul Saints pitching staff couldn't keep the Iowa Cubs bats silenced. The Saints gave up eight runs in the subsequent two innings and lost 9-3 on Saturday night at CHS Field in front of 7,696.

For the 16th consecutive game, the Saints used a long ball to score a run. Andrew Bechtold crushed a leadoff homer in the second, his sixth of the season, putting the Saints up 1-0. The 16 consecutive games with a home run is the second longest streak in franchise history, trailing only the 18-straight from May 25-June 14, 2022

Joey Gallo proved he is on the mend as he drilled a 445-foot solo homer to right-center in the third, his first with the Saints, making it 2-0. He finished 1-3 with a home run, RBI, run, and walk.

The other Major League rehabber, Maeda, was on his game. He retired the first eight batters he faced before giving up back-to-back singles in the third. He got out of the inning unscathed with a lineout off the bat of Darius Hill.

In the fourth, Maeda retired the first two hitters before giving up an infield single to Nelson Velazquez. Maeda finished his night by getting Chase Strumpf looking. Maeda went 4.0 shutout innings allowing three hits while striking out five. He threw 60 pitches, 37 for strikes. Of his 60 pitches, 18 were fastballs and he averaged 90.4 miles per hour on the fastball, approximately 0.5 miles per hour more than his first two outings. He topped out at 91.5 miles per hour.

Ronny Henriquez took over for Maeda in the fifth and the I-Cubs were able to grab the lead by sending 10 men to the plate. The first six hitters reached as Jake Slaughter led off with a single, Sergio Alcántara singled, and Dom Nuñez doubled home Slaughter to make it 2-1. That was followed by three straight walks with the last two forcing in a run to give the I-Cubs a 3-2 lead. After back-to-back strikeouts, Strumpf singled home a pair making it 5-2.

The I-Cubs continued their scoring in the sixth and it got started with a one out double from Nuñez. Yonathan Perlaza then reached on a fielding error by Jose Miranda at first and Nuñez scored on the play when pitcher Cody Laweryson's throw to first went into shallow right giving the I-Cubs a 6-2 lead. Hill doubled to put runners at second and third. After a walk to Young loaded the bases, David Bote was hit by a pitch to force in a run making it 7-2. Velazquez' sacrifice lineout increased the lead to 8-2.

In the bottom of the inning, the Saints snagged a run back. Bechtold ripped a leadoff double to left, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on a single to left by Tony Wolters getting the Saints to within 8-3. Bechtold finished the night 2-4 with a double, home run, RBI, and two runs scored.

The I-Cubs put up their final run in the eighth inning when Hill doubled, moved to third on a single by Young, and scored on a Bote sacrifice fly to make it 9-3.

The same two teams meet in the finale of the seven-game series on Sunday afternoon at 2:07 p.m. at CHS Field. The Saints are TBA and the I-Cubs send RHP Chris Clarke (0-2, 2.92) to the mound. The game can be seen on the CW Network, the Bally Live app (free), and MiLB.TV (subscription), and heard on KFAN Plus 96.7 FM.

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International League Stories from June 10, 2023


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