Gilberto Celestino hits inside-the-park homer in St. Paul Saints’ 10-3 win over Louisville
Gilberto Celestino hit an inside-the-park home run, one of 14 hits and three homers by the St. Paul Saints as they pounded the Louisville Bats 10-3 on Thursday night in Louisville, Ky.
The Saints (35-25) stayed in the chase for the Triple-A International League’s second-half title. They trail leader Durham (37-22) by 2 1/2 games with 15 games remaining, but five other teams are also within 3 1/2 games of the Bulls.
Simeon Woods Richardson (6-6) delivered a strong start for the Saints. He allowed just three base runners through the first five innings and left after six innings having allowed one run on four hits with five strikeouts and one walk. He threw 86 pitches, 55 for strikes.
All nine batters in the Saints lineup had a hit, and Trevor Larnach, Kyle Garlick, Yunier Severino, Anthony Prato and Jair Camargo — the No. 3-7 hitters in the lineup — each had two hits. Both of Garlick’s hits were two-run home runs, giving him 14 on the season.
Camargo led off the second inning with a walk, bringing up Celestino against Bats pitcher Evan Kravetz. Celestino hit a deep drive to left-center that left fielder Jacob Hurtubise and center fielder Jose Barrero converged on. The ball hit the top of the wall and ricocheted toward the vacated center field area, and Celestino raced around the bases four his fourth home run of the season.
It was the second inside-the-park homer in the Saints’ history as a Triple-A franchise, which began in 2021. Dalton Shuffield hit the first on Sept. 20, 2022, at Indianapolis.
The teams meet in game four of a six-game series Friday night at 6:15 p.m. The Saints send right-hander Randy Dobnak (4-8, 4.84) to the mound against right-hander Brett Kennedy (4-2, 3.52).
