Chris Jacobs, Sioux Falls Canaries Crush Saints, 16-3
Canaries are not really thought of as powerful birds, but that sure did not look to be the case Wednesday night, not at least for the Sioux Falls Canaries. These Canaries pounded out 17-hits in a 16-3 victory over the St. Paul Saints. Chris Jabobs blasted 2-homers and drove in 4, and Joe Bircher earned his first victory of the season.
Eric Veghlan started for the Saints and he would struggle from the start. In the bottom of the first, Blake Schmitt singled to start the frame. Two batters later he moved to second on a single by Burt Reynolds. Veghlan retired the second batter of the inning, but Jake Taylor kept the inning alive with a double that scored Both Reynolds and Schmitt. Taylor came around to score on a throwing error by the Saints second baseman and it was quickly 3-0. Ty Morrison was then hit by a pitch and Patrick Fiala drilled his first homer of the year to make it 5-0.
In the third they would make that lead nine. Jacobs led off the inning and drilled his first home run of the season to make it 6-0. Taylor walked before Morrison singled. Two batters later, Michael Falsetti lined a double to center that scored Taylor to make the lead seven. Two batters later Schmitt hit a double of his own, bringing in both runners and the rout was on.
Bircher had walked three in the first inning, but seemed to get stronger as the game progressed. He retired the side in order in the fourth but, in the fifth, St. Paul finally got on the board. Tanner Vavra singled to get the inning started and moved to second on a base hit by Jon Kristoffersen. Bircher retired the next two hitters but Nate Hanson singled to score both runners and it was 9-2.
The Canaries responded in the bottom half of the inning by scoring five. Fiala led off the inning by reaching on an error by Kramer Sneed. He moved to third on a single by Dan Motl and scored when Schmitt hit into a fielder’s choice. Schmitt reached second when B.J. Guinn, Jr. singled and scored on a single by Reynolds. That brought Jacobs to the plate, who crushed his second homer of the game to make it 14-2.
The Canaries were not done, however. In the bottom of the sixth they added two more. Morrison singled before Fiala doubled to start the frame. Falsetti hit a sacrifice fly to score Morrison and Fiala came home on a base hit by Guinn, Jr.
The Saints would score one more run in the eighth. Breland Almadova singled to start the frame and scored on a base hit by Tony Thomas. That made the score 16-3, which would be the final.
Joe Bircher (1-1) pitched well for Sioux Falls going 6-innings, allowing 4-hits, 4-walks, and 2-earned runs. He struck out 6. Chris Jacobs was 2-5 with 2-runs scored, 2-homers, and 4-RBI. Patrick Fiala finished 3-5 with 3-runs and 2-RBI and B.J. Guinn, Jr. had 3-hits in 5-at-bats with a run and an RBI. Nate Hanson was 1-1 with 2-RBI and 2-walks for the Saints.
The St. Paul Saints are off tomorrow before returning home to start a three-game series against the Kansas City T-Bones on Friday night. Game time is 7:05.
By Robert Pannier