Saints Pound out 16 Hits, Bullpen Dominates in 9-5 Come Back Win
IL St. Paul Saints

Saints Pound out 16 Hits, Bullpen Dominates in 9-5 Come Back Win

Published on May 22, 2026 under International League (IL)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN - Both teams danced through raindrops early in the game leading to a less than ideal first three innings, but in the end it was a masterpiece for the St. Paul Saints. They outhit the Omaha Storm Chasers 16-4 and their bullpen tossed 6.0 scoreless innings in a 9-5 victory on Friday night at CHS Field in front of 5,815.

The first inning alone saw more than 80 pitches between the two teams and lasted nearly 45 minutes. With a steady rain falling, Saints starter Ryan Gallagher had issues finding the strike zone as he walked the first three hitters of the game and all three came into score. With one out Brett Squires ripped a two-run double down the right field line giving the Storm Chasers a 2-0 lead. Abraham Toro made it 3-0 with an RBI groundout.

The Saints answered in the bottom of the inning as Kaelen Culpepper led off by reaching on a throwing error from the third baseman Toro. Culpepper then swiped second, but left the game when his helmet came flying off, hit him in the chin, cut his lip that caused him to bleed. Tanner Schobel came in and pinch ran for him and scored on a Hendry Mendez single to center slicing the deficit to 3-1. Mendez stole second and scored on a Matt Wallner single getting the Saints to within 3-2.

One inning later the Saints tied the game at three when Noah Cardenas dropped a one out single into left, went to third on a Schobel double to left-center, and scored on a ground out by Mendez.

Two more walks came in to score for the Storm Chasers in the third. With one out, Drew Waters walked and with two outs Abraham Toro drew a free pass. Gavin Cross tripled them both home putting the Storm Chasers up 5-3.

In the bottom of the inning the Saints got both runs back. Matt Wallner led off with a double to right and he scored on a double to left by Kyler Fedko making it 5-4. Wallner went 2-4 with a double, RBI, and a run scored. With two outs Ricardo Olivar collected his first Triple-A hit, an RBI single to center deadlocking the game at five.

Marco Raya took over in the fourth and had one of his best outings of the season. He retired nine of the 10 batters he faced, giving up only a leadoff double in the fifth, while striking out three.

Cardenas got things started for the Saints in the sixth with a double down the left field line. With one out Mendez' infield single to second put runners at the corners. With two outs the Storm Chasers made a pitching change to go with the lefty Andrew Pérez to face the lefty Wallner. Pérez wound up hitting Wallner to load the bases. Back-to-back walks to Fedko and Aaron Sabato forced in a couple of run putting the Saints up 7-5.

Drew Smith tossed a perfect seventh for the Saints while fanning one.

Mendez capped off his incredible night in the seventh. With two outs Schobel singled to right and that brought up Mendez. Against the left-handed Anthony Gose, the left-hand hitting Mendez took a 96 mph fastball that was up out of the zone and drilled it the opposite way over the left-center field wall, his second in as many games and third of the season, putting the finishing touches on a 9-5 win. Mendez went 3-5 with a home run, four RBI, three runs scored, and a career-high two stolen bases.

Grant Hartwig took over in the eighth for the Saints and struck out the side. In the ninth, he gave up a leadoff single, but got a ground ball double play followed by a comebacker to end the game. Hartwig went 2.0 shutout innings allowing one hit and striking out three.

Raya, Smith, and Hartwig went 6.0 shutout innings allowing two hits and struck out seven.

All nine players who played more than one inning collected a hit, with six players having multi-hit games, five different players collecting an RBI, and five different players scoring a run.

The same two teams meet in game five of a six-game series on Saturday night at CHS Field at 6:37 p.m. The Saints send RHP Mike Paredes (2-1, 3.51) to the mound against Storm Chasers RHP Henry Williams (0-0, 8.10). The game can be seen on the Saints Broadcast Network presented by the Northland Ford Dealers, cable access channels in and around the Twin Cities, 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 22, 2026


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