Bats Lose Series Finale in St. Paul, 3-1
September 18, 2022 – International League (IL) – Louisville Bats News Release
LOUISVILLE, KY – The Louisville Bats (56-85) lost the final game of their series with the St. Paul Saints (69-71) on Sunday afternoon at CHS Field.
Louisville scratched the first run of the ball game, thanks in part to some deft baserunning which has been a recent trend for the Bats. After drawing a leadoff walk, center fielder Mike Siani swiped second base, his third steal since joining the club on September 13. Louisville has now stolen at least one base in five straight games, tying their longest such streak of the season when they stole a bag in five straight games from June 18-23. The Bats have now tallied 11 stolen bases in the month of September without being caught.
With Siani in scoring position, third baseman Cristian Santana put the ball in play and capitalized on a St. Paul fielding error to score the runner from second and give Louisville an early 1-0 lead.
St. Paul first baseman Chris Williams, who had tallied just one hit in the series all week, sent his 10th home run of the season to right center field in the home half of the first inning to knot the game at 1-1.
In the bottom of the third, the Saints claimed their first lead of the game when shortstop Wander Javier claimed his first career Triple-A homer to give St. Paul a 2-1 advantage.
The Saints threatened to add more in the fourth when center fielder John Andreoli notched a one-out double and moved to third on a balk. In the following at-bat, third baseman Jake Rucker chopped a ground ball to Louisville shortstop Juniel Querecuto, who was playing in on the grass, and Querecuto delivered a strike to catcher Mark Kolozvary to cut down Andreoli at the plate and keep it a one-run game.
Reds’ rehabber Connor Overton (LINE) made his second rehab start with the Bats after spending the majority of the season on the injured list with a stress fracture in his lower back. He looked great in the outing, tossing five innings and surrendering a pair of runs on just four hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
The Saints increased their lead and tallied their third solo home run of the day in the bottom of the seventh when second baseman Dalton Sheffield drove one out to right center for his first career Triple-A home run.
Louisville could muster just two hits on the day, tying their season-low, and could not plate any more runs to lose by a final score of 3-1.
The Bats will make the trip back to Louisville to start the final home series of the season tomorrow night (Tuesday, September 19) with the Nashville Sounds, Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. Right-handed Reds’ rehabber Graham Ashcraft (3-1, 1.65) will make his first rehab start in Louisville, while fellow righty Victor Castaneda (1-0, 4.50) will get the start for the Sounds.
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