IL St. Paul Saints

Saints' Ninth Inning Comeback Falls Short in 8-5 Loss to Indianapolis

August 15, 2023 - International League (IL)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN - The St. Paul Saints offense was stagnant for most of Tuesday night, but they brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth inning. The Saints, however, couldn't complete the comeback losing 8-5 to the Indianapolis Indians at CHS Field in front of 7,262.

With the Saints down 8-3 in the ninth and one out, Jair Camargo drew a walk. Austin Martin then clubbed a two-run homer to left, his second in as many games and third of the year, getting the Saints to within three. Back-to-back walks to Gilberto Celestino and Andrew Stevenson brought the tying run to the plate. Brooks Lee hit a bouncer up the middle that was snagged by shortstop Vinny Capra who threw out Lee for the second out. The Indians brought in left-handed reliever Rob Zastryzny to face the left-hand hitting Trevor Larnach. On a 3-2 pitch, Larnach swung and missed at a slider to end the game.

The teams traded runs in the first inning. The Indians got back-to-back doubles to start the game by Ji Hwan-Bae and Nick Gonzales that put the Indians up 1-0.

In the bottom of the first, Stevenson led off with a walk, stole second, and scored on Kyle Garlick's double to left tying the game at one.

The Indians took the lead in the second with a four spot. Mason Martin led off with a single to center. After a groundout moved Martin to second, Bae walked putting runners at first and second. Gonzales then singled to load the bases. Miguel Andujar put the Indians up 3-1 with a two-run single to center. Malcom Nuñez then hit a ground ball to third and Yunior Severino got the lead runner at second, but Anthony Prato's throw to first skipped by Kyle Garlick for an error that allowed Gonzales to score and sent Nuñez to second increasing the lead to 4-1. Canaan Smith-Njigba added to that lead with an RBI single to left making it 5-1.

Back-to-back singles to start the fourth for the Indians by Bae and Gonzales put runners at the corners. Andujar gave the Indians a 6-1 lead with an RBI single to left-center. With one out Smith-Njigba made it 7-1 with an RBI single to right-center.

The Saints put up a run in the sixth when Lee tripled with one out and scored on a Larnach sacrifice fly cutting the deficit to 7-2.

In the top of the seventh the Indians took that run back. They loaded the bases with one out on a walk to Capra, a double from Martin, and a hit by pitch to Dom Nuñez. With two outs Gonzales walked forcing in a run making it 8-2.

Celestino led off the eighth inning for the Saints with a walk. Stevenson's single off the glove of the first baseman Martin sent Celestino to third. Lee made it 8-3 with a sacrifice fly to center.

The same two teams meet Wednesday night at CHS Field at 7:07 p.m. The Saints send RHP Louie Varland (7-0, 4.03) to the mound against Indians RHP Jared Jones (2-2, 5.44). The game can be seen on the Saints Broadcast Network, cable access channels in and around the Twin Cities, 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 15, 2023


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