Eight Run Fourth Does In Saints In 8-1 Loss

NASHVILLE, TN (April 7, 2024) - Only one ball was hit harder than 81 miles per hour in the inning, but sometimes that’s just baseball when hits find the green grass despite not being hit hard. For Simeon Woods Richardson, he cruised through three innings, but in the fourth the bloops fell in and by the time the inning was over eight runs crossed the plate. That was too much for the Saints to overcome in an 8-1 loss to the Nashville Sounds on Sunday afternoon at First Horizon Park. The Saints split their six-game series to the Sounds and dropped to 5-3 on the season.

The game was busted wide open in the fourth as the Sounds sent 11 men to the plate and scored eight runs. Joey Wiemer led off the inning with a walk and went to second on a single by Tyler Black. With one out Chris Roller singled home Wiemer to make it 1-0. Patrick Dorrian walked loading the bases. Vinny Capra’s double into the left field corner scored two and the fielding error by Alex Isola in left plated the third run increasing the lead to 4-0. Yonny Hernández singled to right that moved Capra to third and Hernández took second on the throw home. Chavez Young made it 6-0 with a two-run double to right-center and that chased Woods Richardson from the game. With two outs Wiemer hit a two-run homer to left, his first of the season, making it 8-0. Woods Richardson went 3.2 innings allowing seven runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out four.

The Saints got their lone run in the sixth when Will Holland hit a sinking fly ball to left that alluded a sliding try by Chavez Young. The ball rolled all the way to the wall and Holland raced around the bases and slid in ahead of a high throw to the plate for an inside-the-park home run, his first of the season. It was the third inside-the-park home run in franchise history. Holland joined Dalton Shuffield (September 20, 2022 @ Indianapolis) and Gilberto Celestino (September 7, 2023 @ Louisville) as the only players to have an inside-the-park home run in the Triple-A era.

The Saints bullpen continues to be solid as Joe Gunkel (2.2 IP), Scott Blewett (1.0 IP), and Matt Bowman (1.0 IP) allowed one run and struck out four in 4.2 innings pitched.

The Saints are off on Monday and return to action on Tuesday evening in the first game of a six-game series against the Iowa Cubs (Chicago Cubs) at CHS Field at 4:07 p.m. The Saints send RHP Caleb Boushley (1-0, 1.59) to the mound against I-Cubs RHP Sam McWilliams (0-0, 3.68). The game can be seen on the Saints Broadcast Network, cable access channels in and around the Twin Cities, MLB.TV, MiLB.TV, and the Bally Live app, and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.