Saints One-Hit In 5-0 Finale Loss To Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS, IN (April 21, 2024) - The St. Paul Saints couldn’t do anything against Indianapolis Indians starter Eric Lauer. He retired the first 12 men he faced and left the game after 5.0 no-hit innings. The Saints broke up the no-hitter on a two-out single in the seventh by Alex Isola, but for the second time in five days they were shutout by the Indians, losing 5-0 on Sunday afternoon at Victory Field.

After a quiet first couple of innings the Indians struck first in the third. With one out, number nine hitter Sergio Alcántara walked, moved to third on a single by Ji Hwan Bae, and scored on a Nick Gonzales single to left making it 1-0.

Meanwhile, Lauer retired the first 12 and the Saints finally got their first base runner in the fifth when Yunior Severino led off the inning by reaching on a throwing error from the shortstop Gonzales. Isola reached on a fielder’s choice. He then raced around to third on an errant pickoff attempt by Lauer, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the inning.

A walk to the number nine hitter in the fifth once again proved costly for the Saints. Alcántara led off the bottom of the fifth with a walk. He moved to second on a Bae groundout and that was followed by a hit by pitch to Gonzales. Major League rehabber Yasmani Grandal then grounded one to the right side that just went off the tip of the outstretched glove of second baseman Anthony Prato into right field for an RBI single increasing the lead to 2-0.

Indians reliever Ben Heller tossed a perfect sixth with Will Holland’s 101.4 mph lineout to left for the first out of the inning the closest the Saints came to a hit up to that point.

With one out in the seventh, Matt Wallner scorched a 106.1 lineout to the second baseman Liover Peguero. The next hitter, Severino, walked. That brought up Isola who dumped a blooper into right-center to break up the no-hitter as Severino went to third. Isola then stole second, but with the tying runs in scoring position Patrick Winkel struck out to end the inning.

The third walk of the game by Saints pitchers came into score in the seventh. Bae led off with a walk and with one out Grandal hit a two-run homer to right, his first on Major League rehab, doubling the Indians lead to 4-0.

The Indians put the finishing touches on the game in the eighth. Matt Gorski led off with a triple to center and scored on a sacrifice fly from Dustin Peterson giving the Indians a 5-0 lead.

It’s the third time the Saints have been one-hit in franchise history with the other two coming on June 24, 2021 at Columbus and September 11, 2022 at Toledo. It’s only the second time in franchise history the Saints have been shutout twice in a series, the other on August 4 and 6, 2023 at Columbus.

The Saints are off on Monday and return to action on Tuesday at CHS Field against the Rochester Red Wings (Washington Nationals) and begin a six-game series at 6:37 p.m. The Saints send RHP David Festa (0-0, 1.46) to the mound against Red Wings Jackson Rutledge (1-0, 3.00). The game can be seen on the Saints Broadcast Network, cable access channels in and around the Twin Cities, MLB.TV, MiLB.TV, the Bally Live app, and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.