They say that all good things come to an end, and those words became reality Tuesday night, when Ryan Zimmerman lost his first game since joining the St. Paul Saints. The right-hander had been brilliant in his previous three starts, but he found himself matched against Sioux Falls Canaries left-hander Joe Bircher on this evening, who blanked the Saints for six innings on his way to an 8-2 Victory. Jabari Henry was the offensive star for Sioux Falls, homering twice and knocking in 5-runs in the win.

This was a game that Sioux Falls led nearly from the very start. After Bircher retired the Saints in the top of the first, Henry would lead off the bottom half of the inning with his fifth home run of the season.

It would stay that way for the next three innings, as both Zimmerman and Bircher were pitching brilliant ballgames. Neither team seem to have an answer for the opposing pitcher, that is until the bottom of the fifth when the Canaries would grab a commanding lead.

Ty Morrison started off the frame by drawing a walk, and he moved to third two batters later on a double by B.J. Gunn. Zimmerman was able to retire the next batter before walking Brett Marr to load the bases with two down. That brought Henry back to the plate again, who worked the count to 2-2 before clubbing his second homerun of the game, a grand slam that extended the Canaries lead to five.

In the bottom of the six, Sioux Falls would add three more runs. A double by Aaron Gretz started the inning and he scored when Morrison doubled two batters later. The runner moved to third on a base hit by Blake Schmit and two batters later Dan Motl walked to load the bases. Zimmerman would be replaced by Connor Little who was able to end the inning, but not before giving up a two-run single to Marr that made the score 8-0.

The eight runs were more than enough for Joe Bircher (3-3) on this night. The left-hander allowed 4-hits and 2-walks in 6-innings of work while striking out 5. After allowing two hits in the second, the Canaries starter allowed just two hits over his final four innings of work.

The Canaries then got back-to-back scoreless innings of relief from Dylan Thompson and James Jones in the seventh and eighth innings. Jeff Inman came on in the ninth and St. Paul would finally score. Tony Thomas reached on an error with one down and moved to third on a double by Tim Colwell. Maxx Garrett followed with a double of his own, scoring both runners to make it 8-2. That was as close as the Saints would get, however.

Jabari Henry finished the evening 2-4 with 2-home runs and 5-RBI. Ty Morrison was 1-3 with 2-runs scored. Anthony Gallas had a base hit to extend his hitting streak to 11, and Maxx Garrett was 2-4 with 2-RBI for the St. Paul Saints.

The rubber match of the series is set for 12:05 tomorrow.

Boxscore

By Robert Pannier