What a difference a day — or night — makes.
One game after being held to one run on five hits in a loss at Columbus, the Saints erupted for 15 runs on 11 hits to defeat the Clippers 15-11 in a mid-Ohio slugfest.
On an evening that few minor-league hurlers will want to post on their résumé, St. Paul combined with their hosts to bang out a total of 26 runs on 22 hits before the visitors emerged victorious to clinch at least a tie in their six-game series.
The Saints held a 3-0 lead after the top of the third before Columbus turned the tables with eight runs before the final out was made to close the bottom of the fourth.
Unbowed, St. Paul struck back for a half-dozen tallies in the fifth to take a 9-8 edge, before Columbus returned serve seize the advantage one final time at 10-9 with two-thirds of the game in the rearview mirror.
Not about to let the hosts have the day, the Saints returned serve with two runs in the seventh and four more decisive scores in the eighth.
The Clippers called it a day after one last run in their penultimate at-bat, but three strikeouts from St. Paul closer of the night Matt Bowman dispatched the home side and closed the book on a four-run win.
Reliever Woo-Suk Go (5-2, 5.40 ERA) was tagged for a blown save after allowing two earned runs on one hit and two walks in two innings of work, but claimed the win after his teammates rallied to forge a lead that the hosts could not overcome.
With September call-ups drawing ever closer, first baseman Aaron Sabato continued to bang on the Twins’ door by going 2 for 5 with two runs scored. However, the slugging first baseman was not one of the three Saints players to leave the yard.
Three St. Paul players did put a home run on their CV, as Tristan Gray went long for the second consecutive night; he was joined by Emmanuel Rodriguez and Jose Cardenas as those wearing visiting colors to homer on the night.
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