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AA St. Paul Saints

Walk this Way, Saints Set Dubious Franchise Record with 13 Walks in 14-5 Loss

May 18, 2014 - American Association (AA)
St. Paul Saints News Release


ST. PAUL, MN (May 18, 2014) - Ball four was a common theme for the St. Paul Saints pitching staff on Sunday afternoon at Midway Stadium. They set a record that had stood since 1997 in walking 13 Gary SouthShore Railcats as the Saints lost their first game of the season 14-5 in front of 3,574.

Each of the four Saints pitchers on the afternoon contributed to the record setting day as starter Cole Nelson walked five in 4.0 innings of work, Drew Gay issued three free passes in 3.1 innings of relief, Chase Hentges failed to record an out while walking four in facing five batters and Dylan Thomas put on two in 1.2 innings. The Saints surpassed a record that was set on July 4, 1997 at the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks.

The game got out of hand in the eighth when the Saints walked six, gave up three hits and committed one error as the Railcats put up eight runs in the inning. With one out Gay walked back-to-back hitters before being pulled in favor of Hentges. He didn't fare much better walking the first batter he faced to load the bases. Wally Backman Jr. singled home a pair to make it 7-1. Hentges proceeded to walk the next three batters, the latter two forcing in a run making the score 9-1. Thomas took over and an error, on a ground ball by Ryan Miller, by third baseman Joe Bonfe allowed a run to score making it 10-1. Danny Pulfur and Drew Martinez had back-to-back RBI singles and an RBI fielder's choice by Josh Romanski made it 13-1.

Railcats starter Stephen Bougher was magnificent in his 6.0 innings of work. He retired the first 11 men he faced until Evan Bigley hit a solo homer over the left field wall, his second of the season, which cut the deficit to 4-1. It would be the closest the Saints would get all game. Bougher allowed one run on three hits while striking out one.

Two different Saints collected three hits with Willie Cabrera finishing the game 3-4 with two runs scored and Angelo Songco going 3-4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored.

The Saints depart for their first roadtrip of the season as they travel to Lewis and Clark Park for game one of a three game series against the Sioux City Explorers on Monday night at 7:05 p.m. The Saints send RHP Jeff Shields (NR) against RHP Ryan Miller (NR). The game can be heard on Club 1220 KLBB.

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