GAME ONE
The St. Paul Saints slim playoff hopes came to an end on Thursday evening in game one of a doubleheader. Needing to win out and get some help, the Saints gave up 10 runs over the final four innings and fell 12-4 to the Omaha Storm Chasers at CHS Field. With the loss, the Saints have officially been eliminated from the first half playoff contention with four games remaining.
The Storm Chasers wasted little time getting on the board. Josh Rojas led off the game with a single to right and took third on a double to right-center from Peyton Wilson. With one out a throwing error by shortstop Ben Ross allowed both runs to score, putting the Storm Chasers up 2-0.
The Saints got a run in the second without the aid of a hit. Ross led off with a walk and stole second. With one out a walk to Tanner Schobel followed by a hit by pitch to Henry Kusiak loaded the bases. Noah Cardenas made it 2-1 with a sacrifice fly to left.
Gabby Gonzalez knotted the game at two in the third with a solo homer to left-center, his 11th of the season.
With two outs and nobody on in the fourth the Storm Chasers plated four en route to 10 unanswered runs. Gavin Cross started the rally with a single to right followed by a walk to Luke Maile. Kevin Newman’s double to right scored Cross giving the Storm Chasers a 3-2 lead. Rojas delivered a big blow, a three-run blast to right, his eighth of the season, increasing the lead to 6-2.
Kendry Rojas made his first Major League rehab appearance in the sixth inning. The first three hitters reached on a single to first by Drew Waters, a single to center by Cross, and a walk to Maile. With one out Rojas dropped an RBI fly ball single into center that Alan Roden had trouble seeing giving the Storm Chasers a 7-2 lead. Wilson made it 9-2 with a two-run double off the wall in right. An RBI groundout from Brett Squires and an RBI single from Lugo made it 11-2. Rojas went 1.1 innings allowing five runs on five hits while walking one and striking out one. He threw 33 pitches, 22 for strikes. He threw 13 fastballs averaging 96.2 mph and topping out at 96.9 mph.
Cross added the exclamation point for the Storm Chasers with a solo homer to right, his third of the season, making it 12-2.
The Saints showed a little fight in the bottom of the inning as Cardenas hit a two-out solo homer to left-center, his fourth of the season, making it 12-3. Roden walked, Gonzalez singled him to second, and Wallner knocked him home with a single to left-center getting the Saints to within 12-4. That’s where the playoff hoped would end, however, for the Saints.
GAME TWO
The St. Paul Saints have found their kryptonite and it’s the Omaha Storm Chasers. It had been three weeks since the Saints had lost back-to-back games and that came at the hands of the Storm Chasers. On Thursday night at CHS Field, they lost two games to the Storm Chasers after falling in the nightcap 6-4 in front of 6,943.
Ben Ross got it started for the Saints leading off the first inning with a homer to left, his fifth of the season, making it 1-0.
In the next half inning the Storm Chasers grabbed the lead by putting up three. Matthew Lugo led off with a double to left and scored on a Luca Tresh single to left tying the game at one. Drew Waters followed with a walk and with one out Brandon Drury made it 2-1 with an RBI single to right-center. With two outs Josh Rojas increased the lead to 3-1 with an RBI single to right-center.
The Saints loaded the bases in the third on a Gabby Gonzalez single to left-center, an Aaron Sabato hit by pitch, and a walk to Cody Morissette. With two outs Henry Kusiak cleared the bases with a double off the wall in left-center giving the Saints a 4-3 lead.
Drury tied the game in the fourth with a solo homer to right, his first of the season.
Brett Squires gave the Storm Chasers the lead in the fifth with a solo homer to left, his ninth of the season, making it 5-4. Lugo then reached on an infield single when the ball kicked off the second base bag and into shallow center field. Lugo stole second and scored on an infield single to second from Waters and the subsequent throwing error to first by Cody Morissette increasing the lead to 6-4.
The Saints best chance to tie the game came in the seventh, the last inning in the doubleheader. Gonzalez led off with a single finishing a 3-3 game and a 5-6 day. With two outs Morrissette singled to right-center putting runners at first and second. With the tying runs aboard and the winning run at the plate Tanner Schobel struck out to end the game.
The same two teams meet in game four of a six-game series on Friday night at CHS Field at 7:07 p.m. The Saints send LHP Aaron Rozek (1-0, 2.53) to the mound against RHP Randy Dobnak (5-5, 4.24).
(info courtesy of Saints Baseball)
