Saints Punch Out 16 Bats, But Fall A Run Short, 7-6

ST. PAUL, MN (May 5, 2024) - David Festa and four relievers mowed down the Louisville Bats on Sunday afternoon at CHS Field. Unfortunately, the Bats found a way to score some runs early and the Saints couldn’t come back late as they fell 7-6 in front of 5,614.

Edwin Ríos got Festa in the second inning hitting a changeup for a solo homer to left, his fourth of the season, giving the Bats a 1-0 lead.

Festa left some off speed pitches up in the zone in the third inning and the Bats capitalized. Austin Wynns led off with a single to left. That was followed by an RBI double to left-center from Hernán Pérez increasing the lead to 2-0. After Pérez stole third, Major League rehabber TJ Friedl lined an RBI single into right-center making it 3-0. After a strikeout of Rece Hinds, back-to-back singles from Livan Soto and P.J. Higgins scored a run giving the Bats a 4-0 lead.

It didn’t take long for the Saints to answer back and tie the game. With one out in the bottom of the fourth DaShawn Keirsey Jr. singled to left. With two outs Matt Wallner singled to right moving Kiersey Jr. to third. Michael Helman got the Saints on the board with a double to left cutting the deficit to 4-1. Alex Isola then tied it with a three-run homer to left, his second of the season.

The former Saint, Pérez, grabbed the lead back for the Bats with a solo homer to left-center, his third of the season, making it 5-4. That home run chased Festa who went 3.1 innings allowing five runs on seven hits while walking one and striking out eight. After the pitching change, Ronny Henriquez walked Friedl, gave up and infield single to Hinds, and an RBI single to Higgins increasing the lead to 6-4.

Peyton Burdick started off the fifth inning for the Bats with a solo homer to left, his sixth of the season, making it 7-4.

Justin Topa worked his fourth Major League rehab appearance for the Saints. He gave up a leadoff single to Hinds, but then got a strikeout of Soto and Chris Williams threw out Hinds trying to steal second on strike three for the double play. Topa finished his day by getting Higgins to ground out. Topa went 1.0 shutout inning allowing one hit and striking out one while throwing 12 pitches, 10 for strikes.

The Saints had their chance to make some noise in the eighth. Yunior Severino led off with an infield single to third. With two outs Diego Castillo singled to center and Keirsey Jr. walked to load the bases. After a pitching change, Anthony Prato walked to force in a run getting the Saints to within 7-5. With an opportunity to tie or take the lead, Matt Wallner grounded out to first to end the inning.

The ninth inning got interesting when Helman led off with a walk. With one out, Severino thought he had walked on ball four and started walking down to first. The confusion led to Helman walking to second before realizing it wasn’t ball four and started to head back to first. The catcher Higgins then threw to first, but airmailed it into right field as Helman took third on the throwing error. Severino’s sacrifice fly got the Saints to within a run, 7-6. Chris Williams, however, struck out to end the game.

Along with Festa’s eight strikeouts, Ronny Henriquez fanned two, Topa had one, Jordan Balazovic struck out four, and Josh Staumont had a strikeout. The 16 strikeouts tied for the second most strikeouts in franchise history only behind the 17 on May 8, 2022 vs. Iowa Cubs.

The Saints are off on Monday and return to action at Fifth Third Field to take on the Toledo Mud Hens in the first game of a six-game series at 5:05 p.m. (CT). The Saints send RHP Joe Gunkel (0-3, 9.15) to the mound and the Mud Hens are TBA. The game can be heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.