Palacios and Suwinski Homer as Indians Rally Past St. Paul, 8-6
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A three-run rally in the ninth, sparked by a Dylan Shockley tiebreaking single and Jack Suwinski two-run home run, propelled the Indianapolis Indians past the St. Paul Saints at CHS Field on Friday night, 8-6.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – A three-run rally in the ninth, sparked by a Dylan Shockley tiebreaking single and Jack Suwinski two-run home run, propelled the Indianapolis Indians past the St. Paul Saints at CHS Field on Friday night, 8-6.
With the game tied 5-5 in the ninth inning, Indianapolis (42-30, 75-70) separated to level the series at two games apiece. Ji Hwan Bae got the ball rolling with a single to center field and took second on a fielding error before Shockley plated him in the following at-bat with an RBI single. In the next at-bat, Suwinski provided insurance with an opposite field home run off Ryan Jensen (L, 4-5) to cap the scoring for Indy. The Saints crept within two runs in the bottom half on Chris Williams’ second home run of the contest, but Ryder Ryan (W, 2-2) nailed down the final two outs after the blast to earn the win.
St. Paul (32-41, 70-77) jumped on the board in the third inning with two runs against Domingo Germán. Payton Eeles created havoc on the bases with a stolen base that forced an Endy Rodríguez throwing error, allowing Williams to stride home for the Saints’ first run. Austin Martin then singled and swiped second base ahead of a Dashawn Keirsey Jr. RBI single to right field.
With two on and two outs in the sixth inning, Joshua Palacios crushed a three-run blast to give Indy its first lead of the night. The Indians added another run in the seventh thanks to a run-scoring fielder’s choice off the bat of Bae.
Indy’s 4-2 lead at the stretch evaporated with Brady Feigl on the bump, as, the Saints responded by scoring three runs – two coming on Williams’ first long ball of the night. Rylan Bannon and Eeles then strung together consecutive doubles to give the home team a brief 5-4 advantage, but a two-out wild pitch with the bases loaded in Indy’s half of the eighth again evened the score.
Palacios logged three hits and was a triple shy of the cycle in the victory. In his last 13 games, he is hitting .453 (24-for-53) with 19 runs, 12 doubles, a triple, three home runs and 13 RBI.
The Indians and Saints continue their six-game series on Saturday evening at CHS Field at 6:07 PM ET. RHP Luis Cessa (4-7, 4.73) gets the nod for Indianapolis and RHP Randy Dobnak (12-7, 3.90) will counter for the Saints.