Win Streak and Division Title Gone in 5-2 Loss
June 29, 2007 - American Association (AA)
St. Paul Saints News Release
LINCOLN, NE (June 29, 2007) - It was going to take the St. Paul Saints 14 straight wins to claim the North Division title, but they fell short on Friday night at Haymarket Park as they lost 5-2, snapping their 10 game win steak and giving the Saltdogs the division crown.
The Saints had trouble all night with Saltdogs starter Jarrett Gardner who used a good fastball and solid slider to keep the Saints off balance. The Saints had a few opportunities with runners in scoring position and less than two outs, but couldn't come through. The best opportunity was in the second when they loaded the bases with one out, but Ryan Priddy struck out and then in a 15 pitch at bat Scooter Jordan popped out to short on the 15th pitch to end the inning. That gave the Saltdogs the momentum for the bottom of the inning.
The Saltdogs touched up Charlie Ruud in the bottom of the second sending nine men to the plate and scoring four runs. Tony Garcia, Aaron Mendoza, Pichi Balet and Bryan Warned all drove in a run with RBI singles.
Ruud gave up a solo homer to Jay Yaconetti in the sixth to make it 5-0. Ruud went 6.0 innings allowing five runs on seven hits while walking four and striking out three.
The Saints made a game of it in the eighth when Brent Krause singled to right-center with two outs. Marcel Longmire extended his hitting streak to 20 with a fly ball single to right and Brian Sprout singled off the bag at third that drove home Krause to make it 5-1.
The Saints nearly pulled it out in the ninth inning as they loaded the bases with one out. Matt Brunson reached on an infield single and Alex Fonseca moved him to third with a single to left. Scooter Jordan walked to load the bases. Ben Thomas hit a slow tapper to the right side of the mound which closer Matt Varner fielded, spun and tried to throw to the plate instead of going to first. Catcher Aaron Mendoza's foot wasn't on the plate and the Saints scored a run to make it 5-2. The Saints had the league's best hitter, Krause, at the plate representing the go ahead run, but he bounced into a game ending double play. Krause did finish the night 3-5, with two doubles and a run scored.
The Saints and Saltdogs meet in the second game of the series Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. Both teams are TBA. The game can be heard on KBGY 107.5 FM.
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