Sports stats



AA St. Paul Saints

Saints Finish Historic Regular Season 74-26 with 11-2 Rout of Jackals, Playoffs Begin Wednesday

September 7, 2015 - American Association (AA)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN (September 7, 2015) - The St. Paul Saints ended the most successful regular season in franchise history on a high note, defeating the New Jersey Jackals 11-2 on Monday afternoon at CHS Field. The Saints won their last regular season tune up to finish with a record of 74-26, the second most wins in American Association history, only surpassed by this year's Sioux City Explorers, in a season that shattered the record books beyond comprehension. Alonzo Harris etched his name into Saints lore after swiping his 39th stolen base of the season in the first inning to set a new Saints single-season franchise record.

With 7,883 on hand to watch the Labor Day matinee, the Saints surpassed 400,000 fans on the season with a total of 404, 528 passing through the turnstiles at CHS Field in 2015, more than 105,000 better than the Saints previous record.

The Saints put on an offensive show for the for the holiday crowd as they pounded out their 17th double digit run performance to the tune of 17 hits. Ian Gac's two run double in the third gave the Saints a 4-0 lead and St. Paul piled it on in the fifth when they loaded up the bases to score twice and lead 6-0. Steve Nikorak crushed a moonshot to straightaway center, for his sixth of the season, a three-run shot, as part of a four run seventh inning that gave the Saints a 10-2 lead. It was the 104th home run of the season for the Saints, the most in a single season in their history.

Ian Gac led the Saints at the plate in the win over New Jersey, going 2-4 with three driven in to complement a pair of offensive contributions from two midseason acquisitions. Ryan Lashley collected three singles in a 3-5 performance and Nate Hanson went 3-4 while scoring three runs in their last taste of action before the playoffs. Offensively, the Saints finished with 612 runs scored on the season to finish with 42 more runs than the 2007 squad.

Robert Coe pitched well in his final regular season tune up to win his 12th game of the season, matching his career best with the Saints in 2012 and a former franchise record prior to this season. The right hander tossed 6.0 innings allowing two runs on six hits while walking three and striking out sevenin his 20th start of the season.

Coe finishes 12-3, the fourth most wins on the Saints pitching rotation. The Saints staff is just the second in American Association history with four double digit winners, matching the record set by Sioux Falls in 2008. The Saints pitching staff finished the season with a franchise record 3.24 team ERA, 0.61 runs better than their best year, which was in 1993, the team's first . Kramer Sneed's 15 wins led the Saints staff and tied an American Association record, matched by Patrick Johnson of Sioux City this season. Both tied Josh Lowey of Wichita who won 15 in 2012.

Along with Harris' stolen base mark reached in the regular season finale, the Saints achieved a number of individual franchise marks over the course of the season. Willie Argo finishes the year with 78 runs scored, two more than Adam Frost's record in 2011. Vinny DiFazio and Angelo Songco each collected 82 RBI on the year to set a new franchise mark.

As a team, the Saints finished with a .980 fielding percentage, surpassing the 1994 St. Paul Saints' .977 fielding mark. Other franchise records broken included the most home and road wins of the season as the 2015 Saints finished with 38 home victories to go along with 36 on the road.

The Saints begin the playoffs in Game One of the semi-final round with the Sioux City Explorers on Wednesday, September 9 at 7:05 p.m. at Lewis & Clark Park. The Saints will send LHP Kramer Sneed (15-3, 2.84) with the Explorers having not named their starter as of yet. The game can be heard on Club 1220 KLBB in the Twin Cities area and online at saintsbaseball.com.

Check out the St. Paul Saints Statistics



American Association Stories from September 7, 2015


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