Mark Hamburger raced out to an 11-0 record this season, but he is coming back to earth now, dropping his third straight game, this time to the Gary Southshore RailCats, 5-3. Reggie Wilson continued his hot series against the Saints, getting three hits, and Andy DeJesus added three-hits as well and drove in two in helping the RailCats to snap their six-game losing streak. That backed the impressive start of Taylor Black, who evened his record.

Both Hamburger and Black kept the game scoreless through the first inning, but each team would grab a run in the second. In the top half of the inning, Breland Almadova led off by reaching on an error by the DeJesus, and Tanner Vavra followed by reaching on an error by the RailCats shortstop as well. A fielder’s choice cut down Almadova at third and another error allowed Alonzo Harris to reach. Brady Burzynski followed with the only hit of the inning, to give the Saints the 1-0 lead.

The advantage did not last long as Gary Southshore scored in the bottom half of the inning. Elbert Devarie got the frame started when he singled with one out. Jaime Del Valle followed with a single to left and, two batters later, DeJesus made up for his two errors by singling to center to tie the score.

In the third, the RailCats took the lead. Wilson started the inning with a base hit and moved to second on a single by Anthony Cheky. Two batters later, Alex Crosby lined a single to center that scored Wilson to make it 2-1. Devarie then drew a walk and Del Valle plated Cheky on a ground out.

In the sixth, Gary Southshore seemingly put the game out of reach. Del Valle began the inning with a single and moved to third on an error by the Saints starter. He scored on a single by DeJesus, and DeJesus came around to score on a fielder’s choice by Wilson later in the inning.

Following the run in the second, Black was absolutely awesome. He allowed lone singles in the third and fourth, but then retired nine in a row through the sixth. After tossing 89-pitches Black (5-5) was pulled from the contest. The right-hander allowed 6-hits, no walks, and no earned runs in his 6-innings of work. He struck out 4.

In the eighth the Saints got one of those runs back. Bryson Myles started the inning with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. A ground out moved him to third and Almadova drove Myles home when he beat out an infield single.

In the ninth, St. Paul looked to tie the score. Jarred Mederos took over at short, but committed an error that allowed Burzynski to reach to start the inning. Tony Thomas followed with a ground ball that he beat out for a single and both runners moved into scoring position on a ground out. Myles’ sacrifice fly scored Buryznski, but that was the last run the St. Paul Saints would plate as they fell 5-3.

Jorge De Leon pitched the final 1.1-innings for his fourth save of the season. Wilson was 3-5 with a run and an RBI. That made him 6-13 in the three-game set, with 2-runs and 2-RBI. DeJesus was 3-4 with a run and 2-RBI. Burzynski, Thomas, and Johnson each had 2-hits for the Saints.

The St. Paul Saints head home to begin a four-game set against the Sioux Falls Canaries starting Thursday night. Game time is 7:05.

Boxscore

By Robert Pannier