Santos Arias Contains Saints Bats as Railroaders Win 2-1
A night after watching his teammates give up 10-runs to the St. Paul Saints, Santos Arias took the hill and had command of this game from the start. The Cleburne Railroaders starting pitcher allowed just 2-hits and a run while striking out 8 in the 2-1 victory over the Saints. Mitch Glasser drove in both runs for Cleburne.
After the Saints were retired in order in the top of the first, Cleburne Grabb the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Maikol Gonzalez was hit by a Jason Creasy pitch to start the inning, and stole second base, his fourth of the season. He reached third when the catcher’s throw went into centerfield, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Glasser to make it 1-0.
In the fifth, the Railroaders added another run. Gonzalez walked to start the inning again, moved to second on an error on a pickoff attempt, and was bunted over to third to put a runner 90-feet from home plate with one out. Once again, Glasser delivered, singling into centerfield to score Gonzalez and extend the lead to two.
That seemed to be plenty enough run support for Santos Arias on this night. He had allowed just to walk through the first six innings, carrying the no-hitter into the seventh, while striking out eight during that span. The St. Paul Saints had absolutely no answer for how to get their offense going against the Cleburne pitcher.
However, in the top of the seventh, Nate Hanson finally was able to get the Saints on the board. On the second pitch of the inning, he ripped it over the left field wall for his fourth home run of the season and the lead was down to one. Following a Brady Shoemaker single, just the second hit that Arias (1-2) allowed on the night, the Railroaders went to the bullpen.
Casey Upperman came in and pitched a perfect seventh-inning, striking out the side. In the eighth, Winston Abreu relieved, and allowed just one hit over the final two innings while striking out four for his second save of the season.
Geraldo Valentin finish the game 3-4, Mitch Glasser was 1-3 with 2-RBI. Maikol Gonzalez scored both runs for Cleburne. The Saints finish with just 3-hits.
The St. Paul Saints continue their road trip tomorrow, staying in Cleburne to take on the Salina Stockade for the next three days.
By Robert Pannier
