Harris Walk-Off Homer Gives Saints Marathon Victory, 6-4
ST. PAUL, MN (August 19, 2020) – Just eight minutes before the clock struck midnight, Alonzo Harris turned the Chicago Dogs into pumpkins. With one mighty swing of the bat, Harris walloped a walk-off three-run home run sending the St. Paul Saints to a 6-4, 14 inning victory over the Dogs on Wednesday night at CHS Field in front of a sellout crowd of 1,500. The game last four hours and 47 minutes, the third longest game in terms of time in franchise history.
With the game tied at three in the top of the 14th Joey Terdoslavich, who homered twice on Tuesday night, deposited a solo homer over the right-center field wall to give the Dogs a 4-3 lead.
In the bottom of the 14th John Silviano led off with a walk against Jalen Miller. The next two hitters struck out. Mikey Reynolds extended the game with a single to center putting runners at first and second. That brought up Harris. On a 1-1 pitch he drilled a three-run shot to left, his second home run of the night and third of the season, for the Saints second walk-off victory of the year and first at CHS Field.
Harris got the scoring started in the first when he delivered a solo homer to left-center giving the Saints a 1-0 lead.
The Dogs answered in the second inning when Blake Allemand walked and Logan Moore delivered a two-run opposite field home run, his sixth of the season, making it 2-1 Dogs.
The Dogs tacked on a third run in the fifth when Michael Crouse led off with an infield single to short. A fielding error by Drew Stankiewicz at second put runners at first and second. Terdoslavich then hit a deep fly to center that Reynolds caught, but the speedy Crouse tagged and scored all the way from second making it 3-1.
The Saints added a run in the seventh when Silviano reached on an infield single to the pitcher Eddie Butler. Stankiewicz singled him to second and two wild pitches later Silviano scored making it 3-2.
The Saints tied it with the long ball in the eighth as Josh Allen drilled a solo homer over the batter’s eye in center field, his fifth of the season. It was the third home run in CHS Field history over the batter’s eye. Allen joins Fargo-Moorhead RedHawk Joe Dunnigan, who did it on Opening Night of the ballpark in 2015, and the Saints Burt Reynolds on July 25, 2018.
The Saints bullpen was spectacular as Jose Velez (1.2 innings), Paul Voelker (2.1 innings), Brian Glowicki (2.0 innings) and Matt Pobereyko (2.0 innings) allowed one run on six hits while striking out seven in 8.0 innings of work.
The only two games longer in franchise history was a four hour and 59-minute, 15 inning game on May 29, 2017 at Cleburne, a game the Saints won 8-3. The other was a four hour and 56-minute, 18 inning game on June 25, 1994 at Midway Stadium. The Saints lost that game 4-3.
The same two teams meet in the finale of the three-game series on Thursday night at CHS Field at 7:05 p.m. The Saints send RHP Mike Devine (1-2, 3.26) to the mound against Dogs LHP Wes Helsabeck (0-1, 2.96). 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.
By Sean Aronson, St. Paul Saints
