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IL St. Paul Saints

Saints Hit Franchise Record Eight Home Runs in 16-7 Romp over I-Cubs

June 5, 2022 - International League (IL)
St. Paul Saints News Release


DES MOINES, IA - That's one way to close a series. The St. Paul Saints hit a franchise record eight home runs, tied for the second most in all of Minor League Baseball this season, as they romped 16-7 over the Iowa Cubs at Principal Park on Sunday afternoon.

Spencer Steer hit a career high three homers and scored a career high five runs (tying a franchise record), Alex Kirilloff homered for the third straight game, a career high, as he slugged two homers, Caleb Hamilton smashed two, and Tim Beckham also hit one. The Saints have now homered in 11 consecutive games, four shy of their franchise record.

The Saints didn't waste any time extending their home run streak to 11 straight games, the second longest in franchise history. Spencer Steer led off the game with a solo homer to left, his fourth in 13 games and the third leadoff homer of the year for the Saints, to make it 1-0. Two batters later Tim Beckham hit a solo homer to right-center, his second in four games with the Saints, putting the Saints up 2-0.

The Saints used the long ball in the second to add to the lead as Michael Helman led off with a single to left-center. Caleb Hamilton then crushed a two-run homer to left, his fourth of the season, extending the lead to 4-0. John Andreoli walked and stole second. A single to center by Elliot Soto moved Andreoli to third. Steer's RBI groundout plated Andreoli making it 5-0.

With the Saints up 5-3 in the fourth, Steer became the first Saints player to go deep twice in a game, hitting a solo homer to left in the fourth, his fifth of the season, increasing the lead to 6-3.

With the lead down to 6-5 in the sixth, the Saints continued launching balls out of the ballpark as Hamilton led off the inning with a solo homer to left, his second of the game and fifth of the season, putting the Saints up 7-5. It was the second time in franchise history the Saints had two players with a multi-homer game (June 29, 2021, Jose Miranda hit three homers and Damek Tomscha hit two). With two outs Steer was hit by a pitch and Alex Kirilloff unloaded on one to straightaway center, his fifth of the season, making it 9-5.

With the Saints up 9-6 in the seventh, Hamilton continued his hot hitting day with another RBI. Michael Helman reached on a pop-up single that landed between the first and second baseman. He stole second and scored on Hamilton's line drive single to right putting the Saints up 10-6.

Steer continued his career day in the eighth with his career high third homer of the game. Soto led off with a walk and Steer drilled a two-run homer to left, his sixth of the season increasing the lead to 12-6. Steer finished the afternoon 3-4 with a career high three home runs, a career tying high five RBI, and a career high, and franchise tying high, five runs. He became the third Saints player to homer three times in a game joining Jose Miranda and Brent Rooker, who both did it in 2021. With one out, Beckham singled and, with two outs, a hit by pitch and three consecutive walks brought in two runs as the Saints upped their lead to 14-6.

Kirilloff put the finishing touches on the game in the ninth. Steer walked on four pitches in his final at bat and Kirilloff drilled a two-run homer to left-center, his second of the day and sixth of the season. It's the first time in franchise history three players had a multi-homer game. Seven of Kirilloff's last eight hits are for extra bases, four homers and three doubles.

The Saints scored a season high 57 runs in the series and their 16 runs and 16 hits tied a season high.

The Saints have Monday off and return to action on Tuesday at 7:07 p.m. at CHS Field in the first of a six-game series against the Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals). Both teams are TBA. The game can be seen on the Saints Broadcast Network, cable access channels in and around the Twin Cities area, and MilB.TV and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.

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