History of the Wrong Kind, Saints Lose By Largest Margin In Franchise History, 21-6 To Stripers

ST. PAUL, MN (July 3, 2024) - It was a night to forget for the St. Paul Saints. They allowed a franchise record 21 runs on a franchise record 24 hits. Add it all up and the Saints lost by a franchise record 15 runs in a 21-6 loss to the Gwinnett Stripers on Wednesday night at CHS Field in front of 9,189. The 15-run margin of the defeat surpassed the previous record of 13 in a 15-2 loss on July 9, 2021 at the Iowa Cubs.

It didn’t take long for the Stripers to get on the board. With two outs Chadwick Tromp singled to right and that was followed by a two-run homer to left by Yuli Gurriel, his sixth of the season, giving the Stripers a 2-0 lead.

The Stripers doubled their lead in the second. Luke Waddell led off with a single to center. Alejo Lopez singled to right-center putting runners at the corners. With one out Andrew Velazquez’ sacrifice fly increased the Stripers lead to 3-0. That was followed by an RBI double from J.P. Martinez making it 4-0.

The Saints got one back in the bottom of the inning on a Chris Williams solo homer, his sixth of the season, making it 4-1.

Luis Liberato led off the fifth inning for the Stripers with a single to right, stole second, and scored on a double from Velazquez making it 5-1.

In the bottom of the inning the Saints grabbed the run back when Diego Castillo led off with a double to right. With one out Castillo advanced to third on a single to right by Patrick Winkel and scored on an Alex Isola single to left cutting the deficit to 5-2.

The Stripers blew it open in the fifth inning as the first six hitters reached on hits. Gurriel led off the inning with a double to left. A single to right by White put runners at the corners. Waddell made it 6-2 with an RBI double to right. Lopez singled to left scoring White increasing the lead to 7-2. After a pitching change, back-to-back RBI singles from Liberato and Velazquez gave the Stripers a 9-2 lead. With runners at the corners an RBI fielder’s choice from Martinez made it 10-2.

Patrick Winkel delivered for the Saints in the sixth with a solo homer to right, his third of the season, getting the Saints to within 10-3.

With one out in the top of the seventh back-to-back walks was followed by a three-run homer to center by Chadwick Tromp, his fourth of the season, giving the Stripers a 13-3 lead. After a pitching change, a walk, double, and walk loaded the bases and with two outs Liberato made it 14-3 with an RBI single to left.

The Saints made some noise in the bottom of the inning putting up three runs. Edouard Julien led off with a walk and that was followed by a single from Yunior Severino putting runners at the corners. Matt Wallner drilled his second double of the night that scored Julien and sent Severino to second making it 14-4. Back-to-back sacrifice flies from DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and Castillo got the Saints within 14-6.

White accounted for the final seven runs for the Stripers. He delivered a three-run homer to left in the eighth and then off a position player, Castillo, hit a grand slam to right in the ninth. White became the first ever player to collect six hits against the Saints going 6-7 with two doubles, two homers, seven RBI, and three runs scored.

The same two teams meet in game three of a six-game series on Thursday night at CHS Field at 6:07 p.m. The Saints send RHP Louie Varland (3-6, 6.56) to the mound against Stripers LHP Zach Logue (2-5, 3.66). The game can be seen on the Saints Broadcast Network, cable access channels in and around the Twin Cities, MLB.TV, MiLB.TV, and the Bally Live app, and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.