Saint Paul, Minnesota - Books Lee tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a solo home run; however, the 10th did not go as planned for the Saints. Columbus plated eight runs in the 10th and defeated the St. Paul Saints 14-6 on Sunday evening in front of 6,528. The Saints fell to 75-56 on the season and 32-25 in the second half. 

Coming into play Columbus was tied with the Syracuse Mets for the worst batting average in the International League. Prior to the game, Columbus posted a batting average of .252 over 128 games. Brayan Rocchio doubled high off the right-center field wall on the very first pitch of the game from Patrick Murphy. Next, Angel Martinez laid down a sacrifice bunt, which advanced Rocchio to third. Finally, Kyle Manzardo grounded out to Kirilloff at first, but Rocchio came into score, and Columbus had a 1-0 lead. 

The Saints answered right away with a run of their own. Anthony Prato led the Saints off with a double. Prato advanced to third when Kirilloff grounded out to second. Next, Kyle Garlick hit a four-seam fastball to the warning track in left field. Prato tagged and scored to tie the game at one. 

Columbus responded with another run in the second. Jhnokensy Noel singled followed by a double from George Valera. Columbus had runners on second and third with nobody out. Zack Collins flew out to Brooks Lee at shortstop. Next, Bryan Lavastida grounded out to third, but Noel scored. Columbus took a 2-1 lead. 

Patrick Murphy kept Columbus at bay in the third. That allowed Alex Kirilloff to hit a solo home run, which tied the game at two. The ball went 337-feet. It bounced off the top of the wall in left and into the bullpen. 

In the fourth, Yunior Severino walked to lead off the inning. Severino advanced to third when DaShawn Keirsey Jr. singled. With runners on the corners and one out Gilberto Celestino laid down a sacrifice bunt, which allowed Severino to score, and the Saints had a 3-2 lead. 

The Sains added on in the fifth. Kyle Garlick walked, and Brooks Lee hit a fly ball to no man's land in shallow left field. Clippers left fielder Noel attempted to run the ball down, but the ball fell in, and Noel fell into the stands. This allowed Lee to make it all the way to third and Garlick came around from first to score. Next, Trevor Larnach hit a sacrifice fly to right and the Saints led 5-2. 

In the sixth, Jair Camargo singled to lead off the inning. Next, Celestino popped the ball up at home plate. Plate umpire Jose Navas called Celestino out due to interference on the play. Celestino tried to stay out of the way, even placing his hands up. The ball ended up dropping 20-feet from home plate. Due to the interference call Celestino was out and Camargo had to stay at first. Later in the inning, Alex Kirilloff hit a long single off the wall in right. Camargo advanced to third and the Saints had runners on the corners with two outs. Garlick flew out to left-center field and Noel made a running catch, which got Columbus out of the inning. St. Paul still led 5-2. 

Patrick Murphy made only his second start of the season for the Saints on Sunday evening. This was one of his strongest outings. Murphy worked a season-high 5.2 innings and allowed two runs on four hits. He struck out five and walked four. Over the course of 5.2 innings Murphy tossed 87 pitches, 49 were strikes. Murphy exited the game in the sixth after he walked Rodriguez and Valera. Alex Scherff came on in relief and struck out Collins to get out of the inning. 

Hernan Perez continues to demonstrate his ability to be a utility player. Perez replaced Celestino in left to start the seventh. 

In the seventh, Scherff ran into some trouble. Raynel Delgado singled and Brayan Rocchio walked. Columbus pulled off a double steal and had runners on second and third with two outs. Kyle Manzardo drew a walk and that forced Gardenhire to make a pitching change. Austin Brice entered the game and Rodriguez hit a fly ball to deep left-center field. Perez made a running catch, which saved multiple runs from scoring and preserved the Saints 5-2 lead. 

Jhonkensy Noel hit a 457-foot home run to lead off the eighth. This was his 23rd of the season. Next, Valera singled. Brice got Collins and Lavastida to strike out swinging before Delgado singled. Brice exited the game with runners on the corners and two outs. Michael Boyle allowed a three-run home run to center off the bat of Rocchio. Columbus took a 6-5 lead. 

Trailing by one in the bottom of the ninth the Saints sent Chris Willimas, Kyle Garlick, and Brooks Lee to the plate. Williams and Garlick both struck out swinging. With two outs, Lee stepped to the plate and hit a solo home run to left-center field. This was his second home run at the Triple-A level this season. At the end of nine the game was tied at six. 

In the tenth, the baseball had eyes falling in just where Saints players were not able to make a play. Valera started the inning on second (per MiLB rules) and Collins walked. Daniel Schneemann replaced Collins at first as the pitch runner. Lavastida laid down a bunt. The bunt was fielded by Saints pitcher Michael Boyle who attempted to get the lead runner at third; however, the throw was too late, and Columbus had the bases loaded with nobody out. Next, Delgado hit a ball to shallow left that fell just out of the reach of Perez. This allowed Schneemann and Lavastida to score. Boyle was relieved by Andrew Bechtold. Angel Martinez singled on a sharp line drive to right, which allowed Delgado to score. Kyle Manzardo hit a sacrifice fly to Perez and Columbus had an 11-6 lead. Unfortunately for the Saints it did not end there. Rodriguez walked and the Clippers batted around. Next, Noel singled and Valera doubled. A single from Schneemann and Columbus had a 14-6 lead. 

The Saints went down in order in the bottom of the tenth. 

Alex Kirilloff went 2-for-4 with a home run on Sunday evening. 

Pitching was a group effort on Sunday for Columbus. Daniel Norris, Cody Morris, Randy Labaut, Adam Scott, Tim Herrin, and Cade Smith all made appearances. 

Prior to the game on Sunday the Minnesota Twins made the following roster moves: Willi Castro returned to the Twins from Major League Rehab. 

The only update provided on Byron Buxton is he is considered "day-to-day". 

The Saints are off on Monday before embarking on a 12-game two city road trip. The first stop is Louisville, Kentucky. The St. Paul Saints and Louisville Bats (Cincinnati Reds) meet in game one of a six-game series on Tuesday night at Louisville Slugger Field. First pitch is scheduled for 5:35 p.m. (CT). The Saints are TBA while Louisville will send RHP Michael Mariot (4-3, 6.93) to the mound. Following a six-game series in Louisville the Saints will head to Des Moines, Iowa for a six-game series with the Iowa Cubs (Chicago Cubs). All road games can be seen on MiLB.TV, and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM. The Saints return home to host the Toledo Mud Hens (Detroit Tigers) on Tuesday August 19th with first pitch scheduled for 6:37 p.m.