Cook’s Seventh-Inning Grand Slam Lifts Indians Over Saints, 5-4

INDIANAPOLIS – Trailing 4-1 in the seventh inning, Billy Cook launched his second grand slam of the season to give the Indianapolis Indians a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over the St. Paul Saints on Tuesday night at Victory Field.

The grand slam was the seventh of Cook’s career and first since launching his first at the Triple-A level with Norfolk vs. Lehigh Valley on June 23. It was also the fifth grand slam by an Indians batter this season, the first since Liover Peguero and Matt Fraizer each launched grand slams on July 24 at Iowa.

Three consecutive walks to begin the seventh inning sparked a rally for Indianapolis (19-19, 52-59) before Cook stepped to the plate and hammered his first pitch to straightaway center against Jeff Brigham (L, 0-1). All five Indians runs came via the long ball, with Billy McKinney homering in the second to begin the scoring. It was the first time that two Indians batters with the same first name homered in the same game since Erich Weiss and Eric Wood on June 28, 2017, vs. Durham.

The Saints (18-23, 56-58) put up four runs between Indy’s pair of homers. Their three-run fourth inning came courtesy of a Jair Camargo double, Diego A. Castillo sacrifice fly and Patrick Winkel run-scoring double play. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. then singled in the fifth to take the 4-1 lead.

Fineas Del Bonta Smith (W, 2-1) tossed 2.0 hitless innings in relief of starter Luis Cessa. Connor Sadzeck (S, 3) then entered and worked around a two-out walk in the ninth.

The Indians were outhit 5-3 in the contest, with all three hits coming for extra bases. Nick Yorke went 0-for-4 to snap his 15-game hitting streak and 19-game on-base streak.

Indianapolis and St. Paul continue their six-game series on Wednesday at 1:35 PM at Victory Field. Taking the mound for Indianapolis is RHP Jared Jones (0-1, 6.75) in the second start of his rehab assignment. The Saints have yet to name a starter.