In American Association Daily, Robert Pannier previews the series between the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks and the St. Paul Saints. The RedHawks enter this series two games ahead of the Saints with just six games left in the season. The two teams will play three games in St. Paul.

An Epic Battle from the Days of Old

There may be no more heated rivalry in independent baseball than the St. Paul Saints and the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. These two teams have been battling one another since 1996, including two times in the championship series, with each winning one championship against the other.

While times these two teams meet it’s always a playoff atmosphere, this series, beginning Wednesday night, is extra special. These two teams are separated by two games in the North Division standings and, with six games left in the season, this is the Saints opportunity to not only secure a playoff spot, but to take hold of the division lead heading into the weekend.

The Tale of the Tape

The Fargo-Moorhead (61-33) enter this series with a two-game lead over the St. Paul Saints (59-35). The RedHawks are 18-8 this month, the top record in the American Association for August. St. Paul is 16-9, however, they are 8-2 in their last 10 while Fargo is 6-4 in the same span.

These two teams squared off nine times this season, with St. leading the series 6-3. The last time these two teams met in St. Paul was June 11-13 where the Saints took two of three. Their last series against one another was July 19-21 in Fargo-Moorhead, where the Saints swept the series.

The RedHawks are the top hitting team in the American Association (.296) while St. Paul is seventh (.273). The Saints have hit 97 home runs while the RedHawks have 95. Fargo-Moorhead has the superior slugging percentage (.457 to .425) and narrowly is ahead in on base percentage (.367 to .363).

The RedHawks lead the league in ERA at 3.71 while St. Paul is in third at 3.97. The Saints are third in fielding percentage at .981 while the RedHawks are seventh at .978.

Pitching Matchups

Bret Helton (6-5, 4.35) vs. Chris Lee (2-0, 4.26)
Ryan Williams (8-1, 2.28) vs. Ryan Zimmerman (7-3, 3.64)
Michael Tamburino (7-5, 3.28) vs. Landon Beck (5-2, 3.86)

At first glance, the pitching matchup clearly seems to favor the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. Beck and Lee have a combined total of just three starts this season for St. Paul, while the three hurlers going for the RedHawks have been the foundation of their rotation all season long.

Both Tamburino and Williams are capable of tossing a complete game shutout on any evening, while St. Paul is going to have to use their bullpen quite a bit in Games 1 and 3 of this series. That’s why this series clearly becomes a battle of bullpens, which favors St. Paul. While the Saints cannot match RedHawks closer Geoff Broussard, they are deeper overall.

Whose Hot

Not surprisingly, Brennan Metzger leads Fargo-Moorhead against St. Paul this season. He is hitting .385 in nine games with Devan Ahart close behind at .366. Over the last seven days, Ahart has hit .423, while five other RedHawks players have hit better than .300.

Williams looked sharp in his one start against the Saints this season, allowing one earned run in 6.1 innings pitched. He also tossed eight shutout innings in his last start. Helton has a 2.30 ERA in three starts against St. Paul and allowed one run in seven innings in his last start against Milwaukee. Carter Hope has yet to allow a run in six innings against St. Paul and brother Michael has a 1.04 ERA and five appearances against the Saints.

Troy Alexander and John Silviano are both hitting .429 in three games against the RedHawks. Chesny Young has a .406 batting average in eight games against Fargo-Moorhead. Brady Shoemaker is hitting .435 in his last seven games while Jeremy Martinez has a .333 batting average for his last five contests.

Ken Frosch has not been scored upon in his seven appearances against the RedHawks this season. Ryan Zimmerman tossed seven shutout innings in his last start and closer Tanner Kiest has a 2.25 ERA and two saves in his last four appearances.

Who’s Not

Metzger is only hitting .240 his last six-games and has only walked four times in that span. Brian Olson may not get off the bench with a .059 average in his last four games. Olson is hitting just .238 against St. Paul this season. Chris Jacobs has a .185 batting average in seven games against the Saints, and Correlle Prime is hitting .220 against them.

Tamburino was battered in his one start against St. Paul, giving up four runs in five innings. He did give up just one run in five innings in his last start, however. Joe Filomeno has a 6.23 ERA against the Saints. The Hope brothers have both posted 5.40 earned run averages over the last six games.

Josh Allen is hitting .172 and Chris Baker is hitting .182 against Fargo-Moorhead this season. Jabari Henry has only two hits in his last 24 at-bats while Allen is hitting .148 in his last seven games. Baker is hitting .188 and Dan Motl is hitting .160 in the last week. Michael Lang is also struggling, hitting .188 in his last seven games.

Frosch has a 10.08 ERA in his last five appearances. Beck is 1-1 with a 9.82 ERA in five appearances against the RedHawks this season. Zimmerman has a 5.17 ERA in his three appearances Fargo-Moorhead.

Final Notes

It is likely that these two teams are going to finish in the top two spots in the North Division. That means that this is a playoff preview. If Fargo-Moorhead should win the division, these two teams will be meeting back in St. Paul for Games 1 and 2 starting on Wednesday next week.

By Robert Pannier