AA St. Paul Saints

Bonfe's Blast Propels Saints to 3-2 Win over Sox

Published on July 8, 2014 under American Association (AA)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN (July 8, 2014) - The St. Paul Saints offense has been looking for a spark for the better part of the last two weeks. They got one at the most opportune time on Tuesday night at Midway Stadium as Joe Bonfe hit a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth inning that gave the Saints the lead and the eventual 3-2 win over the Amarillo Sox in front of 3,698.

With the game tied at two in the bottom of the eighth and two outs Bonfe crushed a 1-0 pitch over the wall in straight away center, his third homer of the season, that gave the Saints a 3-2 lead.

In the ninth Dan Sattler was brought on to close the game out. Kyle Bellows started the inning by reaching on an infield single to third. With one out Jeff Farnham hit what looked like a game ending double play to shortstop Joey Becker. The Saints got the force at second, but the throw to first by second baseman Sam Maus skipped away from first baseman Henry Wrigley advancing Farnham to second. A wild pitch moved Farnham to third, but Sattler was able to strike out Jason Martin to end the game.

The Sox jumped out to a 2-0 lead on two unearned runs. In the second Bellows raced all the way around to third when Bonfe fielded a grounder, but his throw to first was in the dirt and rolled into foul territory. Kevin Mahoney's RBI groundout made it 1-0.

In the third Derek Perren reached on a single, but only after catcher Dwight Childs was credited with an error on a dropped pop up in foul territory. Joe Weik singled him to second and a walk to Cory Patton loaded the bases with nobody out. Saints starter Anthony Claggett got out of the jam with limited damage as Kyle Nichols plated a run on a sacrifice fly. Claggett then struck out the next two hitters to end the inning. Claggett went 6.0 innings allowing two unearned runs on four hits while walking three and striking out four.

The Saints comeback began in the sixth when they scored without a hit. Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases and Brandon Tripp's sacrifice fly cut the deficit to 2-1.

In the seventh Maus reached on a two out bunt single. Evan Bigley singled him to third and Willie Cabrera tied it up with a single to left.

Saints reliever Mikey Mehlich pitched 2.0 perfect innings of relief to pick up his third win of the season.

The same two teams meet in game two of the three game series on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. at Midway Stadium. The Saints send RHP Nick Barnese (3-5, 3.62) to the mound against Sox RHP Derek Blacksher (1-5, 5.89). It is Nerd Night. The game can be heard on Club 1220 KLBB and on 87.9 FM in the ballpark.

Check out the St. Paul Saints Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Association Stories from July 8, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central