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AA St. Paul Saints

Saints Drown Mike Phelps and Explorers 9-3, Move to Within One Game of First

August 27, 2009 - American Association (AA)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN (August 27, 2009) - The St. Paul Saints keep winning and the Lincoln Saltdogs keep losing and with just three games remaining in the season the Saints trail by just 1.0 game as they defeated the Sioux City Explorers 9-3 on Thursday night at Midway Stadium in front of 6,153. The Saltdogs lost their fourth consecutive extra inning game making the weekend even more exciting.

The eight and nine hitters in the line up for the Saints, Scott Knazek and Steve Butler, helped put the game away for the Saints, but it was veteran pitcher Mitch Wylie and one of the hottest hitters, Jeff Eure, who helped put the Saints in position to win.

With the Saints trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the third the rally got started with two outs. Brent Krause singled to right and moved to third on Jason Cooper's single to right-center. Jacob Butler followed with a walk to load the bases and that brought up Eure. He ripped a two-run single to right scoring Krause and Cooper to give the Saints a 3-2 lead. Eure went 3-5 with a double, two RBI and a run scored. Back-to-back walks forced in another run and the Saints had a 4-2 lead.

Wylie did the rest as he was brilliant during his 7.0 innings of work. After giving up an RBI double to Boomer Berry in the third Wylie retired 10 in a row and didn't give up another hit until there was one out in the seventh. With runners at second and third and one out in the seventh Wylie got Derek Schermerhorn to foul out and Berry then hit a sinking fly ball to center which Anthony Norman made a sliding catch on to keep the Saints lead at two. Wylie went 7.0 innings allowing two runs on six hits while walking one and striking out eight.

The Saints put it away in the bottom of the seventh. They loaded the bases on a Jacob Butler single, Eure double and walk to Norman. Scott Knazek then ripped a bases clearing double to the wall in left-center to make it 7-2. Knazek finished the night 2-3 with a double, four RBI and a run scored. That's when the most unlikely of Saints went deep as Steve Butler clubbed his first homer since 2007, over the right field wall to put the finishing touches on the game.

The same two teams meet in the second game of the three game series on Friday night at Midway Stadium. The Saints send RHP Charlie Ruud (8-4, 3.73) to the mound against Explorers RHP Ryan Harris (2-2, 6.27). The first 2,500 fans in attendance will receive a Moonwalker giveaway. The game can be seen on the Saints Cable Network (check saintsbaseball.com for the channel in your area) and heard live on Relevant Radio 1330.

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American Association Stories from August 27, 2009


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