The Louisville Bats' offense put together an outstanding comeback against the St. Paul Saints on Wednesday afternoon, riding back-to-back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning and a historic performance by Hector Rodriguez to even up the series.
Rodriguez was the main story of the game, going 4-4 and becoming the first Louisville Bat to hit an inside-the-park home run and have a three-home run performance in the same game. He is the latest Bat to have an inside-the-park home run and an over-the-fence home run in the same game since Juan Perez did so on April 20, 2017.
Rodriguez began his day in the first, flying a ball to right-center field that led to an inside-the-park home run for the Bats. It is the first Louisville inside-the-park home run since Matt McLain on April 23, 2023, and the latest at Louisville Slugger Field since Jose Barrero on August 10, 2021.
St. Paul quickly took control of the lead off of a two-RBI single from Kaelan Culpepper, commanding a 2-1 lead going into the third. Bats’ Starter Darren McCaughan was inconsistent through the first three innings, walking five batters but striking out four.
The Saints extended their lead in the fifth with an RBI double from Kyler Fedko, then a two-run home run from Ben Ross to widen the gap 5-1. McCaughan’s day would be done shortly after that. He allowed five runs on six hits, while also striking out and walking five batters through 4.1 innings.
St. Paul’s starting man, Mike Paredes, kept Louisville quiet outside of the inside-the-parker, exiting the game after going 5.0 innings, allowing just four hits and striking out seven.
Hector Rodriguez continued his stellar performance in the sixth with the new arm in, blasting his second home run of the day, this time over the fence. Noelvi Marte would follow up with a homer of his own to cut deeper into the lead. Michael Toglia joined in on the slugfest, leading to the first back-to-back-to-back home run sequence this year. It would mark the first time since Alejo Lopez, Taylor Motter, and Stuart Fairchild all went back-to-back-to-back on June 28, 2022, and cut the lead down to 5-4.
Michael Chavis would add onto the big inning with a double, and Francisco Urbaez drove him in with an RBI single to tie the game at 5-5.
Louisville would not look back, as Rodriguez continued to mash the ball by crushing his third home run of the day in the seventh. It marks the first time a Bat has had three home runs since Christian Encarnacion-Strand on May 4, 2023. That would give Louisville its first lead of the day since the first inning, where Rodriguez hit his first homer.
The Bats loaded the bases with one out in the home half of the eighth inning. Looking to put the game away, Garrett Hampson delivered with a two-RBI single, widening the gap for Louisville to 9-5. A sacrifice fly by Noelvi Marte scored another, taking the lead up to 10-5. Yunior Marte shut the door on the Saints in the ninth, giving the Bats their first win of the series.
Hagen Danner (W, 1-1) earned the win for his work in the seventh, where he blanked the Saints and struck out two. Kody Funderbunk (L, 1-1) got the loss after giving up the go-ahead home run to Rodriguez.
The Bats (29-23) continue their series against Saint Paul (26-26) on Wednesday night. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. EST at Louisville Slugger Field. Nick Curran and Jim Kelch will be on the call on Sports Talk 790.