Trautwein Torches Saints With Walk-Off Home Run

Down to their final strike, the Louisville Bats stormed back from the brink, with Michael Trautwein delivering the decisive blow, a two-run walk-off home run to give the Bats a thrilling 6-5 win over the St. Paul Saints on Wednesday night at Louisville Slugger Field.

Trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth, the Bats couldn’t do much against St. Paul closer Diego Castillo (L, 0-1), as he retired the first two hitters he faced with little difficulty. Castillo had Conner Capel down to his last strike with a 1-2 count but couldn’t finish him off as a walk extended the game. Trautwein followed with a 408-foot walk-off two-run home run to the Humana Cabana in right field, turning the loss into a win and setting off a wild celebration as he rounded the bases with his second walk-off homer of the season.

MICHAEL TRAUTWEIN SENDS US HOME WITH A WALK-OFF TWO-RUN SHOT 🚨🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/SlxLgzzC7l

— Louisville Bats (@LouisvilleBats) July 11, 2024

The game didn’t begin as well as it ended for the Bats. St. Paul took the lead early against Bats righty Lyon Richardson, with Yunior Severno’s solo home run two batters in giving visitors a 1-0 lead in their first turn at the plate. Richardson kept the deficit at one with a key pickoff in the second, nailing Peyton Eeles on a close play at the base to get through a scoreless inning.

The Saints doubled their lead in the third on DaShawn Kiersey’s RBI ground out to score Maddux Houghton, who began the inning with a single.

Facing the Saints bullpen after scheduled starter David Festa was called up by the Minnesota Twins, the Bats offense struggled out of the gate. Scott Blewett walked three but navigated around it for 1.2 scoreless innings. Nick Wittgren was next into the game, giving up just one hit over 2.1 innings.

Richardson pitched five innings in a solid start for the Bats, allowing two runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts. The offense would get him off the hook.

Zack Weiss held the St. Paul lead with two scoreless innings, striking out four. Christian Roa was the first Bats reliever into the game and struggled, allowing solo home runs to Eeles in the sixth and Edouard Julien in the seventh as the visitors doubled their lead to 4-0.

The Bats offense finally came to life in the bottom of the seventh. Back-to-back singles from Erik Gonzalez and Jacob Hurtubise were followed by a Levi Jordan walk to load the bases with nobody out. Tony Kemp got the Bats on the board with a RBI ground out to shortstop. P.J. Higgins hit an RBI single to make it 4-2, and Capel’s sacrifice fly made it a 4-3 game after seven.

The Saints continued their trend of solo home runs in the eighth against Brooks Kriske, with Chris Williams lifting one over the left field wall for an insurance run and a 5-3 lead. The Bats got the run right back in the bottom of the inning off Matt Bowman. Livan Soto walked, and Hernan Perez singled to put runners on the corners. Gonzalez again made it a one-run game with an RBI fielder’s choice ground out, sending the game to the ninth with the Bats down 5-4.

Zach Maxwell (W, 1-0) struck out a pair in a scoreless ninth to maintain the one-run deficit, setting the stage for Trautwein’s heroics.

Offensively, the Trautwein homer was the Bats’ only extra-base hit of the night. Soto was 2-for-3 with a run scored, a walk, and a stolen base. Hurtubise also stole a base, going 1-for-5 with a run.

The Bats (44-43, 6-7 second half) continue their six-game set with the Saints (44-44, 6-8 second half) continue the series on Thursday night. First pitch at Louisville Slugger Field is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. ET. Nick Curran will be on the call for 1450/96.1 WXVW.