Two-Out Hit Proves to Be Nemesis for Saints, Lose 7-5
FARGO, ND (July 28, 2020) – The last time the St. Paul Saints and Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks matched up, the North Division Championship was on the line. There wasn’t as much at stake on Tuesday night at Newman Outdoor Field, but it was no less competitive. The Saints gave up four two out runs and fell just short to the RedHawks, 7-5.
The Saints jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first when Mikey Reynolds led off the game with a triple and Nate Samson knocked him home with a sacrifice fly.
The RedHawks answered in the bottom of the inning when, with one out, Trey Hair walked. Correlle Prime singled him to second and, with two outs, Leo Pina singled Hair home tying it at one.
In the second the Saints took the lead courtesy of the long ball. With one out Max Murphy walked and Troy Alexander drilled a two-run homer to right, his fourth of the season, giving the Saints a 3-1 lead.
It remained that way until the fifth when Dylan Kelly led off with a single. With two outs Hair singled Kelly to second. That was followed by RBI singles from Prime and Dario Pizzano tying the game at three.
The teams traded runs in the sixth as the Saints got an RBI groundout from Murphy and the RedHawks received a sacrifice fly from Christian Ibarra.
The RedHawks took the lead for good in the seventh when Prime drilled a two-out, solo homer to right, his first of the season, making it 5-4.
The RedHawks added two insurance runs in the eighth as they started the inning with three straight singles from the bottom three in the order. With one out, Hair doubled to deep center driving in a pair to make it 7-4 RedHawks.
The Saints brought the go ahead run to the plate in the ninth. With two outs Justin Byrd walked and Reynolds reached on an infield single. Samson singled to right scoring Byrd as Reynolds took to third. With the tying runs at the corners Chris Chinea hit a high chopper up the middle that the shortstop Ibarra ranged to his left, fielded, and threw out Chinea to end the game.
The same two teams meet in game two of the three-game series on Wednesday night at 7:02 p.m. The Saints send RHP Mike Devine (1-2, 3.80) to the mound against RedHawks LHP John Anderson (0-1, 5.40). The game can be heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.
By Sean Aronson, St. Paul Saints