Bats Win 4-3 Over Saints, Extend Winning Streak To Eight

The Louisville Bats beat the St. Paul Saints 4-3 in game five of the series on Saturday night in front of an energetic crowd of 8,360 at Louisville Slugger Field. The Bats increased their winning streak to eight and have now won 12 of their last 13 games. They will go for the six-game sweep against the Saints on Sunday afternoon.

The Bats kicked things off with a run in the second inning. Rece Hinds and Christian Encarnacion-Strand both drew lead-off walks off Saints starter Connor Prielipp (L, 0-2). Then Connor Joe singled home Hinds, giving the home team a 1-0 lead.

Both pitchers were on top of their game. Louisville starter Adam Plutko (W, 8-7) looked dialed in from the first pitch. He allowed just one hit through the first five inning, striking out five along the way.

Prielipp did not allow any more runs, and he was relieved in the fifth inning by Christian MacLeod.

In the bottom of the fifth, Blake Dunn singled and snagged his 19^th stolen base of the year. Francisco Urbaez was able to single him home to give the Bats their second run of the game.

Plutko continued to deal into the seventh. He had retired 17 batters in a row, going back to the first inning, until Walker Jenkins broke the streak with a base hit. His night ended after the seventh frame with no runs allowed and only two hits surrendered, both were hit by Jenkins.

Plutko would earn the win, his third straight and team-leading eighth of the season. He threw seven scoreless innings for the second straight outing to extend his scoreless streak to 14.0 innings, the longest streak by a Bats pitcher this season.

In the bottom of the seventh, Ryan Vilade knocked a one-out double and Urbaez was hit by a pitch. Hinds hit a shallow pop up into center field, and second baseman Peyton Eeles ran out to make the catch but dropped the ball. That allowed Vilade and Urbaez to score on the error, as with two outs, both runners were running on contact, so they were able to come around the bases easily. The score became 4-0 in favor of Louisville.

The Saints began to chip away once Plutko came out of the game. Tejay Antone came on to pitch for the bottom of the eighth inning in his first Bats outing since 2023. Antone hit a batter and gave up three singles to give the Saints a pair of runs. Louisville was still in control after the inning concluded, leading 4-2.

Sam Benschoter (S, 2) came on to close the game in the ninth. He recorded a quick out but then gave up a home run to Aaron Sabato to cut the lead to one. Benschoter refused to let the Saints complete the comeback and ended the game with a strikeout. He earned his third save of his career and his second this season.

Connor Joe finished the game going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Urbaez also had an RBI and finished 1-for-3. The eight-game winning streak for the Bats is their longest since July 17-25, 2018, when Louisville wo nine in a row.

The Bats (65-72, 33-29 second half) will conclude the series with the Saints (58-77, 25-37 second half) on Sunday afternoon at Louisville Slugger Field. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call for Sports Talk 790 AM.