Gone Fishin': Series Recap from Winnipeg

Well the Saints spent a nice 3 day weekend North of the border as they traveled to Shaw Park in Winnipeg to take on the Goldeyes. After just 3 games back at home after the 14 game road trip they would go back on the road for 6 more, which started on Friday night after a well deserved day off on Thursday.

Friday St. Paul went up to Winnipeg and would open the series with a 7:05PM game at Shaw Park. John Straka took the hill for the Saints while Duke Von Schamann would go on for the Goldeyes. The Saints would score the opening run in the second when Angelo Songco hit a leadoff home run. Winnipeg would tie up the ballgame at 1 in the bottom of the 3rd inning on a sac fly to right. St. Paul would add 3 more in the fourth on the backs of a Tony Thomas 2 RBI single and a Breland Almadova RBI single to make it 4-1. The Goldeyes wouldn't give up when David Rohm stepped to the plate and blasted a 2 run HR to make it 4-3. Even with a combined 8 runs given up Straka went 5 full innings and Von Schmann went 5.2 and was only pulled after he gave up his 5th run in the 6th inning. Winnipeg matched that run to make it 5-4 and the game would go scoreless until the 9th inning. In the 9th Songco drove in an RBI single to make it 6-4, but Winnipeg would match and get a home run in the 9th off Saints closer Ryan Rodebaugh. Final score Saints 6 Goldeyes 5, Straka took the win, Von Schmann the loss, and Rodebaugh got another Save.

Saturday would be a very different ballgame than it was on Friday night, with 4,330 in attendance at Shaw Park it would begin with a second pitch home run by Alonzo Harris which foreshadowed things to come. Even though Winnipeg did take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 1st, St. Paul would come back and hard. In the 2nd the Saints would tack on 5 runs, 3 from a Tony Thomas 3 run HR, Chad Christensen hit a solo home run and a Nate Hanson RBI single to make it 6-1. The 3rd wouldn't fare much better as Tony Caldwell drove yet another home run (2 Runs) and Alonzo Harris drove another to push the lead to 9-2 Saints after just 3 innings. From then on it would be a fairly calm game with Winnipeg scoring 3 in the 6th to make it 9-5, but St. Paul would score one run in each the 8th and 9th innings to finish it off with an 11-5 Saints victory. Saints starting Mark Hamburger went an astounding 8 innings of pitching giving up all 5 runs (4 earned) and taking the win, new Saints signee (we'll come back to that one) Gene Escat finished off the game, while Goldeyes starter Edwin Carl took the loss. Hamburger believe it or not is currently 5-0 in 7 starts with a 3.37 ERA, 26 K's in 56.1 IP with 2 no decisions!

The Sunday matinee game at Shaw Park couldn't have been better in 75 degree weather and a nice crowd of a little over 5,000 on hand to watch the game (Note the Goldeyes are the 2nd best drawing team in the league). A quiet first 2 innings happened and it was only in the 3rd that the scoreless game was broken open with a Nate Hanson RBI single. St. Paul tacked on 2 more in the 4th inning to put it up 3-0. The final runs of the game would be all scored in the 6th inning when Tony Caldwell drove a 3 run HR to make it 6-0, then in the bottom of the inning Winnipeg got there only run when David Rohm drove in Ridge Hoopii-Haslam to make it 6-1. Other eventful things saw Goldeyes LF Josh Romanski ejected in the 6th and Goldeyes Manager Rick Forney ejected in the 7th. St. Paul native and Concordia Golden Bear alum Kody Knaus pitched 6 full innings giving up just 1 run taking the win, while Goldeyes starter Ethan Carnes took the loss.

In the series in Winnipeg, St. Paul tied the franchise record of consecutive road wins at 8, they play a game set at Louis and Clark Park in Sioux City starting tonight and could annihilate the record by Wednesday. If you miss the Saints you can always listen to them here on "Club 1220" KLBB. On a player news front the Saints resigned relief pitcher Gene Escat to help bolster an already talented bullpen. Escat had entered camp with the Saints this season but decided to sign with Pirates de Campeche of the Mexican League (AAA/Unaffiliated) last season he spent most of the season with the Eastern League's Bowie Baysox (AA/Orioles). The Saints have placed Tanner Vavra on the DL (Hamstring) and released pitcher Alex Crawford. The Saints will be back in action at home starting Friday when they have a 6 game homestand. It all starts on Friday when they take on the Goldeyes at 7:05PM and help kick of Twin Cities Pride which features Friday Night Fireworks featuring the music of Queen. So come out and enjoy the fun and ALWAYS remember Fun Is Good and GO SAINTS!