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IL St. Paul Saints

Stevenson and Prato Finish Triple Shy of Cycle as Saints Hammer Mud Hens 14-7

July 25, 2023 - International League (IL)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN - The St. Paul Saints returned home to face a last place Toledo Mud Hens squad and did exactly what they were supposed to do. They hammered out 14 hits, drew a franchise tying-high 13 walks, both Andrew Stevenson and Anthony Prato finished a triple shy of the cycle in a 14-7 beating of the Mud Hens on Tuesday night at CHS Field in front of 7,109.

The offense was firing on all cylinders as all 11 players that entered the game reached base safely with eight different players collecting a hit, seven different players driving in a run, and eight different players scoring a run. Stevenson finished off his hot night in the eighth with a leadoff double. He finished 4-5, a triple shy of the cycle, three RBI, a career-tying high four runs, and a stolen base. Prato also finished a triple shy of the cycle going 3-5 with three RBI and two runs scored.

The Saints scored seven runs over their final two at bats to put the game out of reach. With the score tied at seven in the bottom of the seventh, the Saints put up six runs. Prato led off with a solo home to left-center, his seventh of the season, putting the Saints up 8-7. With one out, Stevenson and Polanco each walked. With two outs Williams walked to load the bases. Celestino made it 10-7 with a two-run double to right. He finished the night 2-4 with a double, home run, a career tying-high three RBI, and three runs scored. A walk to Tony Wolters loaded the bases and Contreras followed with a two-run single giving the Saints a 12-7 lead. Prato finished off the scoring with an RBI single to third making it 13-7.

Stevenson finished off his hot night in the eighth with a leadoff double. With one out, Garlick and Williams were each hit by a pitch to load the bases. With two outs, Tony Wolters walked to force in a run giving the Saints a 14-7 lead.

Celestino put the Saints on the board in the second with a solo homer to left, his third of the season, making it 1-0.

The Mud Hens, however, would get a big fly of their own in the third to grab the lead. Justyn Henry-Malloy led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a one out single from Tyler Nevin. Joe Rizzo tied the game with an RBI double to center. Donny Sands followed with a three-run homer to left, his fourth of the season, giving the Mud Hens a 4-1 lead.

The Saints grabbed a run back in the bottom of the inning as they loaded the bases with nobody out on a walk to Alex De Goti, a single from Stevenson, and a walk to Jorge Polanco. With one out, Chris Williams drove home Stevenson with a sacrifice fly getting the Saints to within 4-2.

With the Saints down 6-2 in the four the Saints got to within a run with their second home run of the night. With one out Austin Martin singled to left-center. With two outs De Goti walked. Stevenson cut the Saints deficit to a run at 6-5 with a three-run homer to right, his 12th of the season.

The bottom of the order helped give the Saints the lead in the fifth. Celestino led off the inning with a walk. He took second on an errant pickoff attempt. Anthony Prato knotted the game at six with an RBI double to left. De Goti put the Saints on top 7-6 with an RBI single to center.

The Mud Hens knotted the game at seven in the seventh when Rizzo led off with a double to left, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on a two-out single from Grant Witherspoon.

Polanco went 1-4 with a run scored and two walks in his Major League rehab. He played third base and committed a fielding error in the first and fielded a hard grounder in the ninth to record the out at first.

Caleb Thielbar in his Major League rehab appearance pitched a hitless, scoreless inning of relief while walking one and striking out one.

The same two teams meet in game two of a six-game series at CHS Field at 1:07 p.m. on Wednesday. The Saints send LHP Brent Headrick (3-1, 3.76) to the mound and the Mud Hens are TBA. 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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