Saints Can't Stop Birds' Bats, Lose 12-4 To Canaries
Aug 8, 2020ST. PAUL, MN (August 8, 2020) – The St. Paul Saints are allowing home runs at a record setting pace. They might be thankful this is only a 60-game season. They gave up a season high 16 hits, with four of them leaving the ballpark, in a 12-4 loss to the Sioux Falls Canaries on Saturday night at CHS Field in front of a sellout crowd of 1,500.
The long balls started early as the Canaries got on the board first courtesy of a solo home run off the bat of Damek Tomscha, his fifth, in the second to make it 1-0.
The Saints took their lone lead of the night in the bottom of the inning as Chesny Young and John Silviano drew back-to-back walks to start the inning. Max Murphy’s tapper in front of the plate moved both runners up. Troy Alexander tied the game at one with a single to right and Mikey Reynolds followed with an RBI single to left giving the Saints a 2-1 lead.
That lead didn’t last long as the Canaries scored five in the third as they sent 10 men to the plate. Ryan Long led off the inning with a solo homer to right, his second of the season, tying the game at two. Ryan Brett singled to left and Andrew Ely doubled him home giving the Canaries a 3-2 lead. Roy Morales’ infield single to third moved Ely to third. An RBI fielder’s choice from Alay Lago scored Ely making it 4-2. Tomscha followed by being hit by a pitch and Logan Landon’s RBI single to left made it 5-2. A walk to Grant Kay loaded the bases and Clint Coulter gave the Canaries a 6-2 lead with a sacrifice fly to right.
The Saints got to within two scoring a run in the third and fourth. In the third Josh Allen singled with one out and Chesny Young’s double drove him home to make it 6-3. An RBI fielder’s choice by Nate Samson in the fourth cut the Saints deficit to two.
In the sixth, however, the Canaries used the long ball for the third time. Back-to-back singles from Coulter and Long started the inning and, with one out, Ely crushed a three-run homer to right, his fourth of the season, putting the Canaries up 9-4.
With the score 10-4 in the ninth the Saints ran out infielder Drew Stankiewicz to pitch for the first time in his professional career. After a leadoff error allowed Landon to reach, he retired Grant Kay on a little tapper in front of the plate. Coulter, however, greeted him with a two-run homer to left, his fourth of the season.
The Saints have now given up home runs in 27 of the 32 games played for a league high total of 46.
The same two teams meet in the finale of the three-game series on Sunday evening at 5:05 p.m. The Saints send RHP Mike Devine (1-2, 3.79) to the mound against Canaries LHP Jake Zokan (3-1, 3.38). The game can be seen on the Saints Cable Network, cable access channels in and around the Twin Cities, streamed at aabaseball.tv and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.