Saint Paul, Minnesota – All good things must come to an end. Louie Varland and the Saints were on the wrong end of history for the first time in a few weeks on Sunday. Not only was the win streak snapped, but the Saints allowed the most runs ever in franchise history. The Toledo Mud Hens destroyed the Saints by a score of 20-9 in front of 8,306 fans. The loss dropped the Saints to 38-36 on the season.

The Toledo Mud Hens were swinging right out of the gate. On the second pitch of the game, Parker Meadows sent a cutter that was left up in the zone to dead center field. Next, Spencer Torkelson singled. Finally, Dillon Dingler launched a 435-foot shot to left, which gave Toledo a 3-0 lead. That was Dingler’s ninth homer of the season. However, the Saints would have an immediate response. The Saints sent nine men to the plate in the bottom of the frame. Edouard Julien walked to get things started. Next, Diego Castillo singled. Yunior Severino grounded into a double play, but the Saints would not let that hurt the inning. The Saints pushed five runs across with two outs.

The ball was flying out of the park. Andrew Navigato picked up right where he left off with a three-run homer in the second. Later in the inning, Dingler came back to the plate. For the second time today, Dillon Dingler took Louie Varland deep. Toledo led 8-5.

The Mud Hens would end Varland’s afternoon in the third with another four runs. Varland allowed five homers on Sunday, which was a career high. Varland worked 2.1 innings and allowed 12 runs, which was also a career high. He allowed eleven hits, which ties a career high. Overall, this is an afternoon Varland will want to forget. Ty Madden struggled early but was able to settle down working 4.0 plus innings and allowed nine runs on 10 hits. In the end, neither starter had a great afternoon.

Aaron Rozek, who was transferred from Wichita (Double-A) prior to the game relieved Varland. His afternoon did not go well either. In the fourth, Toledo scored another seven earned runs, six charged to Rozek. The Saints were able to give fans something to cheer about in the bottom of the fourth. Anthony Prato singled and scored when Julien doubled. Later in the inning, Julien scored on a wild pitch. Jair Camargo tripled on a ball high off the right-center field wall. The Saints trailed 19-8 at the end of four.

It took until the fifth inning, but Scott Blewett entered the game and was able to work a scoreless inning. In the bottom of the fifth, the Saints attempted to build off the momentum from the previous inning. The Saints pushed one across, but left the bases loaded. Saint Paul trailed 19-9 at the end of five.  

Josh Winder worked a perfect eighth inning. In the ninth, Winder gave up a solo homer to Ryan Vilade. Toledo had a commanding 20-9 lead.

If the Saints learned anything from Saturday night, it is that large leads can disappear quickly. Unfortunately for the Saints this lead was a little too large to overcome. In the ninth, Patrick Winkel doubled. He would be stranded on second base. 

There was no shortage of offensive production. The Mud Hens collected 20 hits and completed six trips through the batting order. The Saints had 13 hits and left 10 men on base. The Saints took five-of-six games against Toledo this week. 

Fun fact of the game: How many batters were sent to the plate combined? The answer … 100!

This concluded the first half of the season. The Saints are off on Monday and return to action on Tuesday for a 6-game series against the Iowa Cubs (Chicago Cubs). First pitch from Principal Park is scheduled for 6:38 p.m. Both teams are TBA. The game can be seen on MiLB.TV, and heard on KFAN, Plus, 96.7 FM.