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AA St. Paul Saints

Saints Can't Hang on against Saltdogs Lose 6-5

July 24, 2015 - American Association (AA)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN - The St. Paul Saints have had trouble hanging on to leads against the Lincoln Saltdogs this season, but that was at Haymarket Park. It proved costly at CHS Field on Friday night as they gave up three in the eighth and lost 6-5 in front of 8,879.

With the Saints leading 5-3 in the eighth reliever Chris Peacock gave up a leadoff double to Curt Smith. He finished the night 3-5 and a home run shy of the cycle. Steve Tinoco drove home Smith with a single to center to make it 5-4 with Tinoco advancing to second on the throw home. A passed ball sent Tinoco to third and he scored on a sacrifice fly from Mike Gilmartin. Ryan Wiggins followed with a double and Peacock departed for left-handed reliever Alex Sogard. He got pinch hitter Mitch Canham to fly out to center, but Aaron Payne singled off the bag at first to knock home Wiggins and give the Saltdogs a one run lead.

In the bottom of the ninth the Saints threatened against hard throwing closer Marshall Schuler when Willie Argo led off with a double. Vinny DiFazio walked, but Schuler struck out Ian Gac, got Angelo Songco to pop out and struck out Joey Paciorek to end the game.

With the Saints trailing 1-0 in the third they jumped on starter Kevin McGovern. Dan Kaczrowski led off with a double down the third base line to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. Alozno Harris knocked him home with an RBI triple to tie the game at one. After a walk to Argo the Saints pulled off a double steal. Argo took off for second, the throw down to second wasn't in time and Harris raced home for the steal and gave the Saints a 2-1 lead. Argo then swiped third and scored on a sac fly from DiFazio to make it 3-1.

The Saints took a 4-1 lead in the fourth when they loaded the bases and Harris' infield single to short scored Songco.

The Saltdogs cut the Saints lead to 4-3 in the sixth when Brian Joynt walked. Curt Smith singled him to second. Steve Tinoco then hit a pop up to right that fell in front of Songco, but he was able to throw Smith out at second. A walk to Gilmartin loaded the bases and Wiggins came through with a two-run double to make it 4-3. Wiggins went 3-4 with three doubles, three RBI and a run scored.

The Saints tacked on what looked to be a big insurance run in the seventh when Harris reached on a bunt single and scored on DiFazio's RBI double to make it 5-3. Harris finished the night 3-5 with a triple, RBI and two runs scored.

The same two teams meet in the third game of the four game series on Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. at CHS Field. The Saints send RHP Jeff Shields (9-0, 3.04) to the mound against Saltdogs RHP Shairon Martis (4-2, 3.71). It is FFA Night presented by CHS. The game can be seen on the Saints Cable Network, cable access channels in the Twin Cities area, heard on Sports Radio 105 The Ticket and in the ballpark on 97.9 FM.

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American Association Stories from July 24, 2015


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