ST. PAUL, MN.: It appeared through eight innings that two solo homers from the rehabbing Miguel Sano would be enough to lead St. Paul to victory on Saturday night at CHS Field, but the Saints had to withstand a frantic rally in the top of the ninth from the Toledo
ST. PAUL, MN.: It appeared through eight innings that two solo homers from the rehabbing Miguel Sano would be enough to lead St. Paul to victory on Saturday night at CHS Field, but the Saints had to withstand a frantic rally in the top of the ninth from the Toledo Mud Hens, tie the game in the bottom half, and then eventually pull out a 4-3 triumph in ten innings to earn their second win of the set.
Sano continued to hit the ball well in his rehab assignment with the Saints. The Minnesota Twins first baseman cranked the first of his two long balls on the night in the bottom of the first to give St. Paul a 1-0 edge.
That was the only mistake Bryan Garcia would make in his second career start, permitting just three hits, one run, two walks, and racking up three strikeouts across a career-high four stanzas while not factoring in the decision.
Held without a hit through the first four innings, Jamie Westbrook delivered for the Mud Hens with a sharp single in the fifth frame. He advanced to second on a balk from Mario Sanchez and scored later in the inning on an RBI knock from Ali Sanchez to even the game at 1.
Westbrook went 1-3 at the plate, continuing his five-game hit streak and also extending his on-base streak to seven contests.
Sanchez only allowed one run over his five innings on the mound, scattering two hits, two walks, three strikeouts, and receiving a no-decision in his start.
Sano went deep again in the bottom of the sixth, this time against Michael Mariot, to give St. Paul the lead back at 2-1.
Mariot surrendered just the single tally over 2 and 2/3’s innings on the hill. Luis Castillo worked around a hit in 1 and 1/3’s scoreless stanzas directly after Mariot.
The Mud Hens dinged Jake Petricka for a pair of runs in the top of the ninth, grabbing their first lead of the night in the process. Josh Lester and Brendon Davis each notched base hits to start the threat, with Davis securing a double to put two men in scoring position. Lester scampered home on a fielder’s choice hit into by Kerry Carpenter for the first run. Davis scored all the way from second on a wild pitch during Zack Short’s at-bat to make it 3-2 Toledo.
Lester extended his hitting streak to six straight with that base knock, also moving his on-base streak to eight consecutive assignments. He is 8-24 (.333 average) with two home runs, 7 RBIs, three doubles, and seven runs scored over this stretch.
Jermaine Palacios finished off his 2-3 night at the dish by banging a single to begin the ninth inning rally opposite Derek Law. He advanced to third on a double from Curtis Terry and touched up on a sacrifice fly from Michael Helman to send the game to extras.
After Toledo failed to score in the top half of the inning, St. Paul’s Tim Beckham capped a 3-4 performance with the decisive RBI single off Law (1-3) in the bottom of the tenth, plating David Bañuelos, to seal the deal.
NEXT UP: The Mud Hens will play their final game before the All-Star Break and wrap up the series against the Saints on Sunday afternoon at 3:07 p.m. EST.