The St. Paul Saints were looking to sweep their series over the Sioux Falls Canaries, and used their impressive offense once again, downing the Canaries 13-8. St. Paul rapped out 15 hits, moving their batting average to. 331 in August. Max Murphy had four hits and drove in two, and Jake Matthys won his third straight game, allowing three runs in seven innings.

The Saints would jump out with two runs in the top of the first against St. Thomas graduate Alex Ogren. Max Murphy led off with a base hit and scored when Brady Shoemaker drilled his 13th homer of the season two batters later.

Sioux Falls would battle back with a run in the bottom half of the inning against Jake Matthys. Mitch Glasser singled with one out and moved to third on a base hit by David Bergin. With two down, Mike Hart singled up the middle, scoring Glasser to cut the St. Paul lead to one.

The Saints responded with three runs in the top of the second. A walk to Nathaniel Maggio started the inning and he moved to second when the red-hot Aaron Gretz walked two batters later. A walk to Joey Wong loaded the bases before Murphy singled to score Maggio. Kyle Barrett followed with a base hit driving in two to give the Saints a 5-1 lead.

As they had in the first, the Canaries responded with a run in the bottom half of the inning. The Saints starter retired the first batter of the inning, but Maxx Garrett drilled his 12th homer of the year to pull Sioux Falls within three.

Neither team would get on the board in the third, but St. Paul would add one more run in the fourth. Gretz walked with one down and scored on a two-out double by Murphy.

Holding a four run lead, it looked like the St. Paul Saints blew this game open in the top of the fifth. Trevor Jaunich came on in relief and was greeted by a Shoemaker double. A single by Zach Walters moved him to third and Shoemaker scored on a fielder’s choice by Maggio. A double by Justin O’Conner moved Maggio to third and he scored on a wild pitch. Gretz then drilled his second home run of the season, a two run blast to make it 10-2.

The Canaries would get one of those runs back in the bottom of the sixth. Jordan Dean tripled and scored on a ground out to reduce the Saints lead to seven.

It stayed that way until the top of the ninth when the St. Paul Saints would add three runs. Closer Kyle Schepel came on and was greeted by a Walter’s double. Dante Bichette, Jr. singled, extending his hitting streak to 21 games. Walters looked to score on the play, but was gunned down on a perfect throw by left fielder Jabari Henry to keep St. Paul off the board. However, the victory was short-lived, as Walter scored on a wild pitch. Maggio followed with a walk and scored on an RBI double by O’Conner. He would come home on a two-out base hit by Wong to give the Saints a 10 run lead.

The game looked all but over, but the Saints turned to reliever Andrew Thome and Sioux Falls would rally. A one-out error allowed Dan Motl to reach and he moved to second on a base hit by Glasser. Bergin followed with a single that brought home Motl before Jabari Henry walked. With two down in the bases-loaded, Dean doubled into center, scoring two and Jeff Malm followed with a base hit to bring in two more. Suddenly, the Sioux Falls Canaries were within five, but they would get no closer. Thome was able to get Garrett to ground out to end the threat as the St. Paul Saints held on for the 13-8 victory.

Jake Matthys (8-7) had his third straight outstanding start, going 7-innings, allowing 8-hits and 3-runs. He walked one and struck out 4. You will

Max Murphy finished 4-6 with a run and 2-RBI. Aaron Gretz extended his hitting streak to five games, going 1-2 with 3-runs and 2-RBI. He is now 10-17 during the streak with 9-runs scored and 6-RBI. Kyle Barrett and Brady Shoemaker each drove in two as well. Jeff drove in three for Sioux Falls and Mitch Glasser and Jordan Dean each scored two runs.

The St. Paul Saints now move on to Chicago to take on the Dogs starting Thursday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05.

Boxscore

By Robert Pannier