IL St. Paul Saints

Saints Hang Tough Against Hunter Greene, Come From Behind For 8-5 Victory Over Bats

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


ST. PAUL, MN - The top two picks in the 2017 draft, Royce Lewis of the Minnesota Twins and Hunter Greene of the Cincinnati Reds, were on Major League rehab at CHS Field on Thursday night. The Saints battled against Greene for 4.0 innings before scoring five in the fifth against reliever Tony Santillan for a come from behind 8-5 victory in front of 8,456. The win is the third straight for the Saints and improves their record to 21-15 in the second half and a season-high 18 games over .500 at 64-46.

The two teams traded solo homers in the first as the Bats' Matt Reynolds, his 19th, and the Saints' Trevor Larnach, his 11th, each went deep as the game was tied at one.

In the second, the Bats got another solo homer, this one from Noelvi Marte, his third, making it 2-1.

The Bats kept the ball in the ballpark in the third as they plated two runs. With one out Alejo Lopez extended his on base streak to 40 consecutive games with a walk. Reynolds followed with an infield single to third putting runners at first and second. Nick Martini made it 3-1 with an RBI single to right and that was followed by a sacrifice fly from Henry Ramos increasing the lead to 4-1.

The Saints grabbed another solo homer off Greene in the bottom of the inning as Andrew Stevenson deposited one over the left-center field wall, his 14th of the season, cutting the deficit to 4-2.

In the fourth, the Saints cut the lead to one when Kyle Garlick walked and scored on a double from Jair Camargo getting to within 4-3. Greene went 4.0 innings allowing three runs on four runs while walking three and striking out two.

With Greene out of the game, the Saints put up five runs in the fifth inning to take the lead and needed just two hits. Bats reliever Tony Santillan couldn't find the strike zone walking the first four hitters: Royce Lewis, Larnach, Prato, and Severino, the latter forcing in a run tying the game at four. Garlick gave the Saints a 5-4 lead with a sacrifice fly. Back-to-back wild pitches, the last on ball four to Camargo, scored Prato giving the Saints a 6-4 lead. After a pitching change, Gilberto Celestino knocked home two with a double off the wall in right increasing the lead to 8-4.

The Bats got their third solo homer of the night, a leadoff blast from Henry Ramos in the sixth, his ninth of the season, cutting the lead to 8-5. With two outs Jose Barrero reached on an infield single, Chuckie Robinson doubled him to third, and Michael Siani walked. The Saints went to reliever Ronny Henriquez who fell behind Lopez 3-0 before coming back to strike him out and end the inning. Henriquez went 2.1 shutout innings allowing one hit while striking out three.

The same two teams meet in game four of a six-game series on Friday night at CHS Field at 7:07 p.m. The Saints send RHP Louie Varland (6-0, 4.53) to the mound against Bats RHP Levi Stoudt (3-3, 5.13). The game can be seen on the Saints Broadcast Network, cable access channels in and around the Twin Cities area, 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 August 10, 2023


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