Benjamin Franklin once said that the only inevitable things in life are death and taxes. However, St. Paul Saints starter Mark Hamburger may be proving that his ability to go at least seven innings every time he takes the mound is one additional inevitability that the team is sure it can count on. That proved to be true on Tuesday night as the right-hander tossed his club record 13th complete game, and Brady Shoemaker blasted a three-run homer in the first to pace the team to an 8-3 victory over the Sioux Falls Canaries.

The Saints scored three-runs in the first, an inning where they should not have scored at all. Miles Nordgren was the victim of some poor defense early on that cost him this contest. With one down, Breland Almadova reached on a fielding error and Nate Hanson followed by reaching on an error by the shortstop. That put two on with one down, but the inning should have been over. Brady Shoemaker made the Canaries pay for their miscues by drilling his second homer of the season to make it 3-0.

In the third, St. Paul extended their lead to four. Again, it was a defensive miscue that led to the run. Nate Hanson started the inning by reaching on an error, the second time he had done so. Next up was Shoemaker, who also reached on an error. A wild pitch moved both runners up a base before Tony Thomas walked. A sacrifice fly by Danny Oh scored Hanson, the fourth unearned run of the game.

In the bottom half of the inning, Sioux Falls got that run back. With two down, Ty Morrison hit his first homer of the year to make it 4-1.

The Saints responded in the top of the fourth. Brady Burzynski started the inning by reaching on a single and moved to second on a sacrifice. A ground out moved him to third, and Burzynski scored on a passed ball with Almadova at the plate. Following the run coming home, Almadova walked and stole second base, his second of the year. Hanson then reached on an error for the third time in the game which scored Almadova. It was the sixth error the Canaries had committed in the contest.

In the sixth, the lead moved to six. Burzynski singled to start the frame against Josh Ferrell. He stole second before Jon Krisoffersen walked to put two on with no one out. Tim Cowell flew out into a double-play, but Burzynski scored on the play to make it 7-1.

In the top of the ninth, the St. Paul Saints added one more run. With two down, Tony Thomas crushed his third home run of the season. Thomas has absolutely been on fire since the season began, having at least one hit in all but one game this season and his 2-3 performance was his second game this season with at least 2-hits.

While his team was putting up big numbers on the scoreboard, Hamburger was keeping the Canaries off the scoreboard. After giving up the run in the third, he would allow just two-hits over the next five innings. He was absolutely breezing, until the ninth inning, when Sioux Falls added two runs. That was when Dan Motl singled home Chris Jacobs and Patrick Fiala to make the score 8-3, but the Canaries would get no closer.

Mark Hamburger (2-0) went the distance, his first complete game of the season and second time he has pitched at least 8-innings. He allowed 9-hits, 2-walks, and 3-runs, while striking out 4. Brady Shoemaker was 2-5 with a run and 3-RBI. Tony Thomas was 2-3 with a run, RBI, and 2-walks. The Canaries were led by Patrick Fiala, who was 2-3 with a run scored.

These two teams will complete their three-game series tomorrow. Game time is 7:05.

Boxscore

By Robert Pannier