Saint Paul, Minnesota - A combination of offense and pitching helped lift the Saints past the Mud Hens 8-2 on Friday night. Dallas Keuchel, Caleb Thielbar, and Oliver Ortega all had strong performances. On the offensive side the Saints put on a show to all 8,540 fans in attendance with four home runs. St. Paul improved to 58-41 on the season. 

In the third, with two outs, Nick Solak walked, Justyn-Henry Malloy singled, which allowed Solak to advance to third. On a wild pitch by Dallas Keuchel, Nick Solak scored due to a throwing error by Saints catcher Jair Camargo. Toledo took a 1-0 lead. 

In the fourth, Camargo singled and Austin Martin hit his first home run of the season. Also, this was his first AAA home run. This gave the Saints a 2-1 lead. 

In the fifth, Malloy hit a solo home run to center, which tied the game at two. 

The breakthrough inning for the Saints would come in the sixth. Mark Contreras led off the inning with a solo home run. This gave the Saints a 3-2 lead. Later in the inning, Austin Martin singled, and Chris Williams walked. Ernie Yake hit his first AAA home run. This one went to right and gave the Saints a 6-2 lead. 

In the eighth, Yake hit his second home run of the night. This was his first career game where he had multiple home runs. 

The game started after a short weather delay, but that did not slow Keuchel down. He came out of the gate firing and would work six innings allowing two runs on six hits. He struck out eight. Keuchel would pick up the win, and this would be his first win as a Saint. 

Thielbar continued his MLB Rehab Assignment on Friday night. He worked one inning while recording a strike out. Thielbar threw eight pitches, six were strikes. Finally, Ortega worked the final two innings. Ortega allowed one hit and struck out five. 

Martin and Yates had exceptional nights at the plate. Martin went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored, along with a home run. Yates went 3-for-4 with a career high four RBI and two runs scored along with two home runs. 

The Toledo Mud Hens and St. Paul Saints will meet in game five of a six-game series at CHS Field on Saturday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:07p.m. Toledo is TBA while the Saints will send RHP Randy Dobnak (4-4, 4.19) to the mound. The game can be seen on the CW Network, MiLB.TV, and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.