ST. 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.

Boxscore

by Sean Aronson, St. Paul Saints