Article: Saints Fall 8-5 In Extra Innings

[Matt Hoffmann]

Try as they might, the hottest baseball team in Minnesota and the American Association couldn’t complete a three-run comeback in the 11th inning and fell to the Gary Southshore Railcats 8-5 Saturday night at their home, CHS Field.

 

Saint Paul did manage an impressive rally in the ninth inning - at the time trailing 5-3 - to force extra innings behind a couple of Railcat errors and a sac-fly by brand new signee Mike Schultz. “That was nice for him” Saints manager George Tsamis said after the game.The teams went scoreless in the tenth inning, prompting international tiebreaker rules not seen at other levels of baseball. The last out of the last inning is put on second base and the inning is played like usual.

 

“A lot of people don’t like it,” Tsamis said after the game but added “I don’t mind it…both teams have the same rules.”

 

The Railcats took advantage of their opportunity in the eleventh—scoring on an off-target throw by relief pitcher Ryan Rodebaugh and then adding two more runs on a base hit and a sac-fly.

 

There was a simple explanation as to why the Saints couldn’t make a second comeback. “[The Railcats] just made the plays. It was nice to come back, but in the end they just made the plays,” explained Tsamis.

 

Saint Paul now “falls” to 23-5 on the season, if you can even call it that. They still have wins in seven of their last ten games and can take the series victory with a win over Southshore tomorrow.

 

The Saints have an injury-riddled lineup at the moment; the club just placed outfielder Mike Kvasnicka on the DL where he joins teammate Jeff Shields. To counteract the injury bug the Saints will rely on heavy hitters Tony DiFazio and Angelo Songco who homered in Saturday’s matchup.

 

The probable starters for the series rubber match are Dustin Crenshaw (4-1, 1.67 ERA) for the home side and Rene Solis (0-2, 2.67 ERA) for the visitors. First pitch is scheduled for 5:30 on Sunday, though baseball fans should keep an eye on the skies in case of delay.

 

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Keep the updates coming on the Saints. It's great for guys like myself who are fans of both teams. Go Saints and go Twins!