IL St. Paul Saints

From 9-0 Up, to 10-9 Loss, Saints Stunned by RailRiders

Published on August 16, 2022 under International League (IL)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN - The St. Paul Saints were gifted six unearned runs in the second inning that vaulted them into what seemed like an insurmountable 9-0 lead. They carried that into the fifth inning when the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders got what appeared to be a harmless run. It turned out to be significant as the Saints allowed three consecutive three-run innings after the fifth and lost 10-9 on Tuesday night at CHS Field in front of 6,722. It's the largest blown lead in franchise history.

With the Saints up 9-0 in the fifth, starter Dereck Rodríguez was cruising. He wiggled out of a couple of jams in the first and second and retired six in a row with one out in the fifth. Back-to-back walks followed by an RBI single from Estevan Florial made it 9-1. Rodríguez pitched a solid 5.0 innings allowing one run on four hits while walking three and striking out four.

Ronny Henriquez took over in the sixth in a piggyback situation. The RailRiders cut the Saints lead to 9-4 in the inning as Ben Rortvedt led off with a walk. Ronald Guzmán followed with a two-run homer, his ninth of the season, making it 9-3. With one out, Tyler Wade walked and scored on a two-out double by Max McDowell.

In the seventh, the RailRiders continued to dig into the Saints lead. Oswald Peraza led off with a single to left. He stole second and, with two outs, Guzmán made it 9-5 with an RBI double to right-center. The next hitter, Armando Alvarez hit a two-run homer to straightaway center, his 11th of the season, making it 9-7. Henriquez last 2.0 innings allowing six runs on five hits.

Austin Schulfer started the eighth for the Saints as McDowell reached on a one out bloop double to right. Florial followed with an RBI double to right-center making it 9-8. Jovani Moran took over for and the first batter he faced, Peraza, gave the RailRiders their first lead of the game with a two-run homer to left, his 17th of the season, making it 10-9.

The Saints built their big lead over the first two innings. They capitalized in the first on a little bout of wildness from the Yankees 26th rated prospect, Jhony Brito. He walked the leadoff man, Michael Helman and Jermaine Palacios followed with a single off the glove of the third baseman Alvarez putting runners at first and second. With one out, Caleb Hamilton walked to load the bases. Mark Contreras was hit by a pitch to force in a run and give the Saints a 1-0 lead. Chris Williams put the Saints up 2-0 with a sacrifice lineout to left. Andrew Bechtold collected his first Triple-A hit, an RBI single to right-center increasing the lead to 3-0.

A plethora of errors by the RailRiders in the second allowed the Saints to plate six unearned runs. Braden Bishop started the inning by reaching on a throwing error from the shortstop Peraza. Helman doubled off the wall in right and a throwing error by right fielder Oswaldo Cabrera on the play allowed Bishop to score and send Helman to third giving the Saints a 4-0 lead. With the infield in, Palacios hit a grounder to second and Wade's throw home was late as Helman scored making it 5-0. Matt Wallner reached on a fielding error by Wade that sent Palacios to third. Hamilton made it 6-0 with a sacrifice fly to right. Contreras singled and Williams drilled a three-run homer to left, his second with the Saints and second in as many games, putting the Saints up 9-0. A lead that looked great at the time, but disappeared by the time the game ended.

The same two teams meet in the second game of the six-game series at 7:07 p.m. at CHS Field on Wednesday. The Saints send RHP Jordan Balazovic (0-5, 10.15) to the mound against RailRiders RHP Clarke Schmidt (2-0, 2.86). The game can be seen on the Saints Broadcast Network, cable access channels in and around the Twin Cities, and MiLB.TV and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.

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International League Stories from August 16, 2022


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