IL St. Paul Saints

Severino Blasts Two Home Runs, Saints Come from Behind for 7-6 Victory

August 20, 2023 - International League (IL)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN - There are 30 games left in the regular season for the St. Paul Saints and each is more important than the last in their quest for the lone playoff spot in the second half. A loss on Sunday afternoon would have meant dropping the series to the Indianapolis Indians. Sparked by two home runs from Yunior Severino, the Saints came from three back and defeated the Indians 7-6 in front of 7,833 at CHS Field. The win improves the Saints to 26-19 in the second half.

The Saints grabbed the lead in the first without a hit. Andrew Stevenson led off with a walk, stole second, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly from Trevor Larnach to make it 1-0.

Severino gave the Saints a 2-0 lead in the second with his first homer of the day, a solo homer to right, his third of the season.

The Indians sent nine men to the plate in the third and scored five runs to take the lead. Vinny Capra led off the inning with a double to left and that was followed by a walk putting runners at first and second. After a passed ball moved the runners up to second and third, Miguel Andujar got the Indians on the board with an RBI groundout making it 2-1. Canaan Smith-Njigba tied the game at two with an RBI single to left. After a walk to Jared Triolo, the Indians took a 3-2 lead on an Aaron Shackelford RBI double to right. Ryan Vilade followed with an RBI single increasing the lead to 4-2. The final run scored on an Austin Schulfer errant pickoff throw at first as Shackelford scored from third making it 5-2.

Severino came calling again for the Saints in the fourth leading off the inning with a solo homer to right, his second of the game and fourth of the season, closing the gap to 5-3.

A big sixth inning for the Saints put them in the lead as they plated four runs with the first four hitters reaching. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. led off with a triple to center. Jair Camargo was hit by a pitch and Severino got the Saints to within 5-4 with an RBI single to center. Severino finished the day 3-4 with two home runs, three RBI, and three runs scored. Gilberto Celestino tripled to center scoring a pair giving the Saints a 6-5 lead. With one out Andrew Stevenson made it 7-5 with an RBI single to center.

The Indians got to within a run in the eighth with three two out singles off Jovani Moran. Grant Koch, Capra, and Gonzales all had base hits, the latter scoring a run making it 7-6. Kody Funderburk took over for Jovani Moran to face the second-best hitter in the league, Andujar. He hit a fly ball to the gap in left-center that Keirsey Jr. tracked down to end the inning.

Funderburk pitched a perfect ninth picking up his fifth save of the season.

The Saints are off on Monday and return to action on Tuesday against the Omaha Storm Chasers at Werner Park at 6:35 p.m. Both teams are TBA. The game can be heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.

Check out the St. Paul Saints Statistics



International League Stories from August 20, 2023


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central