Walks Sting Bats In 7-2 Loss Against Saints

Edwin Ríos homered late, but it was not enough to get the Louisville Bats back into the game in a 7-2 loss to the St. Paul Saints on Wednesday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field.

After a scoreless first inning, Tony Kemp got the effort started for the Saints with his first triple of the season, a ground ball down the right field line. He crossed home plate a batter later on Diego A. Castillo’s single that gave St. Paul an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second.

The Saints strengthened their advantage to 3-0 in the following frame with a pair of walks and an RBI double by Matt Wallner. The effort ended on Wallner’s attempt to take third when he was thrown out by a relay from right fielder Conner Capel and second baseman Levi Jordan.

Bats starter Lyon Richardson (L, 1-3) day was over after four innings. He allowed three runs, four hits, and four walks, while striking out three. Casey Legumina took the mound for the next two innings and held St. Paul to two hits and no runs.

A few innings later, Reds rehabber Noelvi Marte started a rally with a one-out single. Saints starter Adam Plutko (W, 1-1) was pulled after getting the second out of the inning. He threw 5.2 innings and allowed one run on five hits, while striking out five.

With a new pitcher in the game, a single and hit batter loaded the bases for the Bats. Capel brought home the first run of the game for the Bats with a six-pitch walk, cutting the Saints’ lead to 3-1.

St. Paul ran away with the game in the top of the seventh. Back-to-back walks with the bases loaded allowed two runs to cross home plate and forced the Bats to make a pitching change, removing Brooks Kriske after two-thirds of an inning. With Spencer Stockton now on the mound, Kemp singled on a line drive that scored two more runs, extending their lead to 7-1.

The Bats chipped away at the deficit in the bottom of the eighth with the 430-foot home run by Ríos, the first of the series by either team. Louisville would not come any closer, falling 7-2 to St. Paul.

As a team, the Bats pitching staff of Richardson, Legumina, Kriske, and Stockton combined to tie a season-high with 11 walks in the loss. Through the first two games of the series, Louisville has combined for 23 hits, but only four runs.

The Bats (34-30) continue the series against the Saints (29-35) on Thursday evening with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 pm ET. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.