Indians Comeback Iced by Saints in 5-4 Loss

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Indians mounted a sixth-inning comeback with a three-run frame but were thwarted with a run from the St. Paul Saints in the seventh to take Game 2 of the seven-game set, 5-4, on Wednesday afternoon at Victory Field.

With a tie game in the seventh, St. Paul (31-31) strung together a pair of singles and a walk to drive in the game-winning run off Sean Sullivan (L, 0-1). This came on the heels of a sixth inning in which the Saints scored three runs on a trio of doubles and a walk, all with two outs, to take a 4-0 lead.

Indy (35-28) responded in the bottom half of the sixth, manufacturing four runs on five hits. Nick Solak led off the inning with a walk and eventually scored on a Nick Yorke ground out following a Jack Suwinski double. Billy Cook scored Suwinski with a double of his own and came around to score on a Liover Peguero single. Alika Williams then capped Indy’s sixth-inning outburst with an RBI single of his own.

St. Paul managed a run in the first inning thanks to a four-walk frame, but they did not scratch across their first hit of the contest until there were two outs in the sixth inning. After the Indians 6.2-inning no-hit performance to begin yesterday’s contest, they have allowed no hits across the first 5.2-plus innings of back-to-back games for the first time since at least 2005.

J.C. Flowers tossed 4.1 innings of the Indians no-hit bid, matching his longest career relief outing, on July 12, 2022, vs. Double-A Richmond. He also allowed no hits in that outing. St. Paul’s starter, Marco Raya (W, 1-3) earned his first win of the season, holding Indy to two hits and no runs across 5.0 innings.

The Indians and Saints continue their seven-game series with a doubleheader on Thursday night. Game 1 will begin at 6:05 PM and Game 2 will take place approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1. Southpaw Hunter Barco (0-1, 5.40), MiLB’s No. 89 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline, will take the mound for Indy in Game 1 across from righty Andrew Morris (2-3, 3.86). Indianapolis has yet to announce a starter for Game 2 while St. Paull will send RHP Randy Dobnak (0-2, 5.87) to the mound.