Pablo López Sharp In Rehab Start, Saints Lose 1-0

DES MOINES, IA (April 19, 2025) - Pablo López checked all the boxes in his Major League rehab start for the St. Paul Saints. He utilized all his pitches, threw strikes, and had excellent command during his 4.2 innings. The Saints offense couldn’t get much going until the ninth when they had the tying run thrown out at the plate to end the game in a 1-0 loss to the Iowa Cubs on Saturday afternoon at Principal Park.

López retired the first six hitters he faced before the leadoff man reached in the third on catcher’s interference. López got a groundout and back-to-back strikeouts to strand the runner at third.

The lone run of the game came in the fourth when López threw a 1-2 fastball at the top of the zone that Owen Caissie, the #50 prospect in baseball, hit over the right-center field wall for a solo homer, his third of the season, making it 1-0. That was followed by a single to right-center from Moises Ballesteros and a hit by pitch to Matt Shaw. López would get a strikeout, then Ballesteros was thrown out trying to steal third, and a line out to end the inning.

López started the fifth and gave up a leadoff single to Jonathan Long before getting a double play off the bat of Carlos Pérez. López departed after that going 4.2 innings allowing one run on three hits while striking out four. He threw 63 pitches, 43 for strikes and got eight swings and misses. His 18 fastballs averaged 94.5 miles per hour and he topped out at 96 mph. He threw 16 of 22 sweepers for a strike, his highest usage pitch.

The Saints offense meanwhile didn’t do much off I-Cubs starter Chris Flexen. They got two on with one out in the first on a single by Mickey Gasper and a walk to Emmanuel Rodriguez. Jeferson Morales flew out and Yunior Severino struck out to end the inning. Flexen went 6.0 shutout innings allowing two hits while walking one and striking out seven.

The Saints nearly tied it in the ninth. Gasper roped a two-out double to the gap in right-center against Major League rehabber Tyson Miller. Gasper finished 2-4 with a double. The I-Cubs brought in lefty reliever Brandon Hughes to face the lefty Rodriguez. On the first pitch, Rodriguez singled to right-center and pinch runner Dalton Shuffield tried to score, but Caissie threw him out to end the game.

It's the 10th 1-0 game in Saints franchise history and their seventh defeat, three of them to the I-Cubs at Principal Park.

The same two teams meet in the finale of the six-game series on Sunday afternoon at 1:08 p.m. The Saints send RHP Zebby Matthews (2-1, 1.80) to the mound against Major League rehabber, I-Cubs RHP Javier Assad (0-0, 2.70). The game can be heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.