It was National Hamburger Day on Sunday and, fittingly, the St. Paul Saints sent ace Mark Hamburger to the hill. However, Zach Walters ruined the day with a three-run homer in the third, and four Kansas City T-Bones relievers blanked the Saints over the final 4.2-innings to give Kansas City the 5-2 victory.

Hamburger blanked Kansas City in the first, but in the second they would tag him for two-runs. Walters led off the inning by drawing a walk and moved to second when Chase McDonald followed with a base hit. Next up was Joe Jackson, who drilled a double into right field, scoring Walters and moving McDonald to third. A ground out by Daniel Rockett scored McDonald and it was 2-0.

In the third, the T-Bones extended that lead to five. Omar Garcia led off with a single and he moved to second when Marcus Lemon single into right field. A flyball moved Garcia up to third, bringing Walters to the plate. He took two quick strikes, then turned on a Hamburger offering and drilled it for a three-run homer, his second home run of the series. That made the score 5-0.

The St. Paul Saints responded with two runs in the bottom of the third inning, thanks to back-to-back home runs. After Jeff Walters was able to retire the first batter of the inning, Nate Hanson drilled his third home run of the season over the left-center field fence. Four pitches later, Brady Shoemaker crushed his fourth home run of the season deep over the left field wall to cut the deficit to three. However, the Saints would get no closer.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Saints looked to get back into this game when Hanson doubled to start the inning before Shoemaker was hit by a pitch. Two batters later Anthony Gallas walked to load the bases and that would be it for Jeff Walters. Kamakani Usui relieved, who had been absolutely brilliant this season. With a 3-1 count to Tony Caldwell, Usui induced a comebacker that he turned into a double play and the threat was over.

In the sixth, St. Paul mounted another rally when the Kansas City reliever walked the bases full, but another double-play ended the threat to keep the T-Bones ahead 5-2.

Myles Smith pitched a perfect seventh-inning, and Cody Winiarski allowed two runners to reach in the eighth, but struck out the side to end any threat. Grant Sides came on in the ninth and retired the Saints in order for his fourth save of the season.

Zach Walters finished 1-3 with 2-runs scored and 3-RBI for the Kansas City T-Bones. Chase McDonald and Omar Garcia were each 2-4 with a run-scored. The St. Paul Saints were led by Nate Hanson who finished 3-5 with a run and an RBI. Anthony Gallas had a single to extend his hitting streak to six games.

The St. Paul Saints will head to the road, beginning a two-week trip starting tomorrow against the Texas AirHogs. Game time is 7:00

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By Robert Pannier