IL St. Paul Saints

There's No Place Like Home, Celestino's Walk-Off Single Wins It for Saints 6-5

Published on September 7, 2021 under International League (IL)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN - The St. Paul Saints had to endure four walk-off losses during their recent 12-game roadtrip. It felt good to be home on Tuesday night at CHS Field. The Saints stormed back from a four run deficit and got a walk-off infield single from Gilberto Celestino in the bottom of the ninth to take down the Omaha Storm Chasers 6-5 in front of 5,113.

With the game tied at five in the bottom of the ninth Drew Stankiewicz led off with a walk. Jose Miranda and Tomás Telis followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases. That brought up Celestino who hit a high chopper to third that was fielded by Erick Mejia and his throw was high as Stankiewicz slid in to score the winning run. Celestino finished the night 3-5 with a double, two RBI and a run scored.

The Saints trailed 5-1 going into the bottom of the fifth and came storming back as Stankiewicz led off with a double to left-center. With one out Telis made it 5-2 with an RBI single to left. Celestino followed that with a single and Mark Contreras drilled a three-run homer to right-center, his 14th of the season, tying it at five.

The Saints got incredible relief work from Robinson Leyer (1.1 IP), Jovani Moran (2.0 IP) and Kyle Barraclough (1.0 IP) tossing 4.0 shutout innings on one hit while striking out six.

The Saints jumped out to the lead in the first as Miranda led off the bottom of the inning with a single to left-center. Two batters later Gilberto Celestino put the Saints up 1-0 with an RBI double to left-center.

The team that leads Triple-A in long balls, the Storm Chasers, got one in the top of the second as Mejia delivered a solo homer over the left field wall, his fourth of the season, tying the game at one.

The Storm Chasers took the lead in the third courtesy of their two high end prospects. With two outs Bobby Witt Jr. doubled to left-center and that was followed by a two-run homer from Nick Pratto, his 14th of the season, giving the Storm Chasers a 3-1 lead.

In the fifth the Storm Chasers drilled their third long ball of the game as Dairon Blanco led off the inning with a solo shot to left-center, his second of the season. Angelo Castellano followed with a double to left-center and scored when Lucius Fox grounded out third and Damek Tomscha's throw to third to try and get Castellano went into foul territory putting the Storm Chasers up 5-1.

The same two teams meet in the second game of the six-game series on Wednesday afternoon at 1:05 p.m. The Saints send RHP Drew Strotman (7-3, 4.80) to the mound against Storm Chasers RHP Ronald Bolaños (0-1, 2.95). The game can be seen on the Saints Broadcast Network, cable access channels in and around the Twin Cities, and MiLB.TV, and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.

Check out the St. Paul Saints Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



International League Stories from September 7, 2021


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