Answer:
…every time i go to the radio station, i intend to e-mail myself the highlights from the night before, but i always get bogged down in one task or another and forget, and, by the time the game is over, i need to get outta there. i’m working on just recording the highlights off of the archives currently, and i should have highlights up from the sioux city series by the end of today. thanks for your patience…
The St. Paul Saints (7-1) lost their first game of the year to the Sioux Falls Canaries (5-3) by the score of 12 to 8.
…what did i just write? and what logo is that to the right? oh well. i guess the saints will have to settle for a 95-1 season. in all seriousness, this was bound to happen, and, of course, the first loss is in semi-blow-out fashion, as all first losses after a winning streak seem to be. and, by the way, that’s an old school northern league canaries logo to the right if you were curious. as for the game, needless to say, alec shepherd did not have his best stuff. he’s a sinker ball pitcher and he left pitches up in the zone, and that’s the recipe for defeat if you’re alec shepherd. shepherd only lasted 4 innings, giving up 10 runs on 12 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2. john wesley made his first relief appearance for the saints this season, giving up a couple of runs in 3 innings of work, and ryan priddy (yes, that ryan priddy) was the only saints pitcher to not surrender a run last night, as he threw a scoreless 8th. the saints could never quite come back from the canaries’ 8-run 4th inning that gave them a 10-3 lead at the time. in the inning, patrick reilly hit a 3-run homer, grant richardson picked up a 2-run double, and josh patton added a 2-run bomb for good measure. the saints’ bats were by no means silent, with kevin sullivan homering and brent krause adding his first home run of the year. tim brown was 3-5, but got thrown out trying to extend a single into a double in the 9th inning in a 5-run game. brown, however, was solid with the glove yet again, and continues to swing a hot stick, as he drove in the saints’ 4th run of the game in the 5th inning. brian sprout also contributed with 2 hits and 2 runs scored, while ben thomas had two hits himself. the offensive story of the night was krause, however, who seemed to breakout last night, falling a triple shy of the cycle in a 3-4 night with 2 runs scored. the saints’ chance last night came in the 8th inning, after sullivan homered, krause doubled, and thomas singled, but julius thames bounced into a 4-3 dp and scooter jordan grounded out to end the threat with josh kite relieving starter ben moore after 7+ innings of 7-run baseball. listen, this night had to come sometime. lets not let the loss linger (try saying that 5 times fast), and lets pick up a win tonight against the team that the saints will probably battle for the north division title…
As originally discussed a couple of days ago, John Wesley was released by the New York Mets organization after spending time at Single-A Port St. Lucie and has now been signed by the St. Paul Saints. Wesley had given up 9 ER in 5.1 innings pitched, with opponents hitting .333 against him in the Florida State League. Wesley, a 6′5” righty, would have been the Saints pitching coach and a key cog in the Saints pitching staff had he not been signed by the Mets. Andre Marshall, who had been hitless with the Saints in 7 at-bats, was released.
…i think after pitching 32.1 innings in 7 games, every single pitcher in the saints bullpen will welcome john wesley back into the clubhouse…
The Game:
The first place St. Paul Saints (7-0) look to take the first of three tonight against the third place Sioux Falls Canaries (4-3) at 7:05 P.M. CST from The Birdcage in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
The Matchup:
RHP Alec Shepherd (0-0, 4.50 ERA)
RHP Ben Moore (1-0, 5.40 ERA)
The Lineups:
…unfortunately pichi is not in the lineup tonight after hobbling to first base on a 7th inning rbi single last night…
St. Paul Saints
Scooter Jordan CF
Brian Sprout SS
Tim Brown 1B
Marcel Longmire RF
Jason Colson1B
Kevin Sullivan C
Brent Krause LF
Ben Thomas 3B
Julius Thames 2B
Sioux Falls Canaries
Kennards Bibbs CF
Tim Hutting SS
Will Smith DH
Grant Richardson 3B
Josh Patton 2B
Ben Van Iderstine RF
Patrick Reilly 1B
Beau Torbert LF
Andrew Barbaro C
…tim brown has earned himself a third straight start, and he really deserves it…
Follow the Game:
Listen LIVE on the internet to the radio broadcast on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
…on the radio side of things, i will have the pre- and post-game show, while sean aronson, the voice of the st. paul saints, will be taking care of the broadcast live from the ballpark…
And, as always, lets go Saints!
…if nothing else, check out the first score here…
Thursday, May 15th
Grand Prairie 2 at Shreveport 1 - G1
Grand Prairie 1 at Shreveport 5 - G2
Wichita 12 at El Paso 7
St. Paul 9 at Sioux City 3
Pensacola 10 at Sioux Falls 5
…that’s right, as i wrote yesterday, grand prairie has a win in their franchise history. wichita is also back in the win column after their franchise’s first 2-game losing streak, and sioux falls picks up their 3rd loss of the season, dropping another game to those saints, who, by the way, are still undefeated…
Friday, May 16th
Wichita at Grand Prairie - 7:05 p.m.
El Paso at Shreveport - 7:05 p.m.
Fort Worth at Sioux City - 7:05 p.m.
Pensacola at Lincoln - 7:05 p.m.
St. Paul at Sioux Falls - 7:05 p.m.
…looks like there are lots of games to keep you updated on during the broadcast tonight, and we’ll do exactly that. there are definitely some interesting matchups here, with el paso and shreveport facing off yet again, two of the top teams in the north division doing battle in sioux falls, and the two expansion teams playing each other in grand prairie’s first franchise home opener…
| NORTH DIVISION | W | L | PCT | GB | STREAK | L10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Paul | 7 | 0 | 1.000 | W 7 | 7- 0 | |
| Wichita | 5 | 3 | .625 | 2.5 | W 1 | 5- 3 |
| Sioux Falls | 4 | 3 | .571 | 3.0 | L 1 | 4- 3 |
| Lincoln | 2 | 5 | .286 | 5.0 | W 1 | 2- 5 |
| Sioux City | 1 | 7 | .125 | 6.5 | L 3 | 1- 7 |
| SOUTH DIVISION | W | L | PCT | GB | STREAK | L10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Paso | 5 | 2 | .714 | L 1 | 5- 2 | |
| Pensacola | 4 | 3 | .571 | 1.0 | W 1 | 4- 3 |
| Fort Worth | 4 | 3 | .571 | 1.0 | L 1 | 4- 3 |
| Shreveport | 2 | 4 | .333 | 2.5 | W 1 | 2- 4 |
| Grand Prairie | 1 | 5 | .167 | 3.5 | L 1 | 1- 5 |
Deadspin.com has apparently taken notice of the St. Paul Saints, specifically their unique promotional style. Check out the article by clicking here –> Deadspin.com
…two inaccuracies here: first, sean aronson is not the director of promotions; he’s the director of broadcasting and media relations. i’m pretty sure his head would spin if he was the director of promotions too. scott riley is actually the director of promotions, and does a phenomenal job at that. i’ve watched him in action, and he’s an extremely creative guy to say the least….
…second, sean aronson was quoted as saying the following in the article…
“People have come to expect that kind of thing from us, so the pressure is on every season to try and top ourselves,” said Sean Aronson, the Saints’ director of promotions who also doubles as the team’s radio play-by-play broadcaster. “When a news item like the Larry Craig incident breaks, we actually have media people calling us the next day asking what we’re going to do with it.”
…in realty, sean was talking about the michael vick chew toy in this quote, and not the larry craig incident…
…listen, they say any press is good press, and i think this certainly falls under that umbrella. to me, it reads as more of a report than the kind of opinion piece or expose that runs frequently on deadspin. you might remember deadspin from bob costas’ hbo special on sports and the media, in which will leitch, the creator of deadspin, was the person who was apparently responsible for defending all blogs with buzz bissinger barking at him in a town hall style “discussion.” i would personally argue that deadspin, when it puts stress on showing pictures of athletes with women and alcohol, is different than saintsblog, which is basically a way of streamlining information about one team from a person with a unique vantage point and a ton of access. that is not to say that deadspin doesn’t have entertainment value, but when it does things like that, it loses credibility in my eyes. however, when it opens its readers’ eyes to the more interesting and less-well-known items in sports, like the st. paul saints, then deadspin has journalistic value as well, because it provides another means of accessing information. this article does a pretty decent job of letting people know the funnier side of the promotions, but neglects to mention that the saints have a different promotion every night, all of which are a ton of fun, and not all of which poke fun at something in popular culture. and to me, that’s where deadspin missed the point. ya know, a lot of people talk about how the twins new outdoor ballpark will drive fans away from midway stadium. honestly, i just flat out disagree. the draw of the saints is entirely different than the draw of the twins. people go to a twins game to watch major league baseball. people go to saints games for the experience. nobody is paying twins ticket prices to go watch the saints play baseball, but, at the same time, nobody is going to twins games for the family experience, and that’s not gonna change regardless of where the twins are playing and regardless of who the saints are playing. to me, that’s the importance of the saints promotions, and not the fact that the saints choose to poke fun at michael vick and the minnesota vikings love-boat incident, although i do fully support any effort to disparage michael vick. i’d love to hear what you have to say about the deadspin article, the saints promotions, and anything on the topic, so please post any thoughts you have to this comments section of this post…
The St. Paul Saints (7-0) have defeated the Sioux City Explorers (1-7) by the score of 9 to 3.
…speaking of two teams sprinting as fast as they can in opposite directions, the saints played the explorers tonight…
…i’m running out of good things to say about the saints these days. maybe i’ll go buy a thesaurus so at least i’ll have some fresh adjectives. well, tonight, they showed that they can play with a lead. they held the lead through the middle innings and tacked on runs late. they were helped out by a big 2nd inning 2-out rally, and charlie ruud did what he needed to do to labor through 5 innings in his first start of the year. in that 2nd inning, tim brown, who started for the 2nd consecutive game, walked with 2 outs. christian reyes then singled, and ben thomas drove in brown with a single of his own. julius thames, hitting in the leadoff slot, then reached on an infield single, and so brian sprout came up with the bases loaded and, for the second time this year, he cleared the bases with a 3-run double, giving the saints a 4-1 lead. charlie ruud, who gave up runs in the 1st and 4th, finished his night going 5 strong, giving up only 1 earned run, as the second run was able to score as a result of a passed ball on a strike-out, along with 6 hits and 4 walks, while striking out 1. kyle foster followed, providing another 2 innings of scoreless relief, surrendering only a walk while striking out 2, and with foster exiting, the bullpen had pitched 30.1 innings of 1-run baseball. let me repeat. the bullpen, up to that point, had given up a grand total of ONE earned run in 30.1 innings of baseball. in the words of jim rome, in-credible. in between foster’s 2 innings of work, the bats went back to work and provided some insurance. julius thames led off the 7th with his second hit of the night, as he finished 2-5 with 2 runs scored and a run driven in, and brian sprout bunted thames to second. pichi balet, who was back in the lineup with a “pichi night,” (2-3 with a walk and an rbi… no big deal, although his average did drop) then singled home thames before scooter jordan came in to pinch run for balet, giving the saints a 5-2 lead. the hit parade continued with marcel longmire picking up a single and jason colson singling in jordan. brent krause capped the saints rally with an rbi ground-out, giving the saints a 7-2 lead. krause did struggle from the dish yet again, but this 7-0 saints team has just picked him up the entire season, and that is probably the most impressive storyline of the season so far. krause and longmire were a combined 1-9 tonight, but the saints put 9 runs up on the board. jim rome’s back: re-diculous. the saints would tack on two more for good measure in the 8th, with kevin sullivan , who took over for reyes in the bottom of the 6th, walking, ben thomas doubling sullivan to 3rd, thames grounding out to score sullivan and jordan singling in thomas. the saints ‘pen then proved to be mortal. sort of. dustin bolton turned in what would be a good night for any other reliever pitching with a 7-run lead. he pitched 2 innings. he didn’t walk anybody. he only gave up 1 run. too bad for him that the standard has been set by the guys before him — 1 run is 1 more than the norm… in the (paraphrased) words of charlie beattie, time to buy the rest of the bullpen dinner. of course, i kid, bolton pitched great, ruud picked up his second win of the year, and the saints are 7-0. blogging is way more interesting when i have things to complain about…
The Game:
The St. Paul Saints (6-0) look to sweep their first road series of the season tonight in the third and final game against the Sioux City Explorers (1-6) at 7:05 P.M. CST from Lewis and Clark Park in Sioux City, Iowa.
The Matchup:
RHP Charlie Ruud (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
LHP (Robert) Paul Fagan (0-0, 17.18 ERA)
The Lineups:
…george is keeping us on our toes these days…
St. Paul Saints
Julius Thames 2B
Brian Sprout SS
Pichi Balet LF
Marcel Longmire RF
Jason Colson1B
Brent Krause CF
Tim Brown DH
Christian Reyes C
Ben Thomas 3B
Sioux City Explorers
Jason Tuttle CF
Nick McCoola 2B
Chris Grossman DH
Juan Camacho 1B
Alex Llanos 3B
Chad Gabriel LF
Luke Hetherington RF
Sam Walker SS
Jorge Rodriguez DH
…tim brown has earned himself a second straight start, while pichi balet is back in the lineup, and we actually have to change the #1 spot in the scorecard. oh, and kevin sullivan actually does need rest. who knew?…
Follow the Game:
Listen LIVE on the internet to the radio broadcast on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
…on the radio side of things, charlie beattie and i will have the pre- and post-game show, while sean aronson, the voice of the st. paul saints, will be taking care of the broadcast live from the ballpark…
And, as always, lets go Saints!
…apparently it rains occasionally in shreveport…
Wednesday, May 14th
Grand Prairie at Shreveport - PPD
Wichita 6 at El Paso 8
Lincoln 6 at Fort Worth 5
St. Paul 6 at Sioux City 3 - F/12
Pensacola 3 at Sioux Falls 5
…wichita turned a 5-4-3 triple play, lincoln beat fort worth and actually held off a rally in the 9th after entering the inning with a 6-3 lead, and sioux falls is in second place. i think that just about sums it up…
Thursday, May 15th
Grand Prairie at Shreveport (DH) - 10:05 a.m. (Game 2 to follow)
Wichita at El Paso - 7:05 p.m.
St. Paul at Sioux City - 7:05 p.m.
Pensacola at Sioux Falls - 7:05 p.m.
…the grand prairie airhogs won the first game in their franchise’s history with a 2-1 victory over the shreveport sports in the first game of the double-header, but shreveport got some measure of revenge with a 5-1 win in game two. it’s pretty impressive that a team like grand prairie, who we saw struggle mightily on the hill, held shreveport, who scored 21 runs on opening night, to just 1 run in the first game today. congrats go out to pete incaviglia and everyone in grand prairie who worked hard to get that team together…
| NORTH DIVISION | W | L | PCT | GB | STREAK | L10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Paul | 6 | 0 | 1.000 | W 6 | 6- 0 | |
| Sioux Falls | 4 | 2 | .667 | 2.0 | W 3 | 4- 2 |
| Wichita | 4 | 3 | .571 | 2.5 | L 3 | 4- 3 |
| Lincoln | 2 | 5 | .286 | 4.5 | W 1 | 2- 5 |
| Sioux City | 1 | 6 | .143 | 5.5 | L 2 | 1- 6 |
| SOUTH DIVISION | W | L | PCT | GB | STREAK | L10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Paso | 5 | 1 | .833 | W 5 | 5- 1 | |
| Fort Worth | 4 | 3 | .571 | 1.5 | L 1 | 4- 3 |
| Pensacola | 3 | 3 | .500 | 2.0 | L 2 | 3- 3 |
| Shreveport | 1 | 3 | .250 | 3.0 | L 3 | 1- 3 |
| Grand Prairie | 0 | 4 | .000 | 4.0 | L 4 | 0- 4 |
The St. Paul Saints (6-0) have defeated the Sioux City Explorers (1-6) by the score of 6 to 3.
…and no, i am not getting tired of writing the above phrase. this was another marathon affair, hence the delay in getting you a postGame recap, as i was producing this game from the studio with charlie beattie. the saints have really shown that they can beat you in a number of ways this season, and, just like in the doubleheader against grand prairie, this win was of the come-from-behind variety. the saints were down 3-2 heading into the top of the 8th. kevin sullivan, who was really the only guy who was hot with the bat in the lineup last night, walked to lead off the inning. that walk by sullivan marked the 4th time he had reached base in the game, after singling in his first three at-bats. tim brown, started last night, with pichi balet getting another day of rest, jason colson moving to dh, marcel longmire moving to RF, and brent krause moving to LF, and brown was the batter following sullivan, and he promptly doubled home sullivan to tie the game at 3. the bullpen, yet again, was phenomenal last night. craig molldrem, mike bille, dustin bolton, and tony pierce combined for 7 innings of scoreless relief, only surrendering one hit in relief of justin lord, who was very good as well, going 6, giving up 2 ER, 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 1. with those 7 innings of relief, the bullpen has now pitched 28.1 innings and has only given up 1 earned run. i mean, that’s just astounding. the only real threat against the ‘pen last night came in the bottom of the 9th against craig molldrem, when jason tuttle singled with 1 out and stole second before nick mccoola walked, bringing up chris grossman. grossman lined one to the right side, and tim brown snagged it, alertly realized that tuttle had left second, and doubled up tuttle 3-6. the saints offense was by no means explosive last night. they left a total of 16 runners on base last night, and let a number of opportunities go by the wayside, which is certainly not characteristic of the saints in the early season. despite every hitter in the starting lineup tallying a hit, they only had put 3 runs across going into the top of the 13th, and even stranged kevin sullivan on 3rd in the 10th after a lead-off three-base E9. however, in the top of the 13th, ty marotz gave up a lead-off single to scooter jordan, a sacrifice bunt to brian sprout, an intentional walk to brent krause, and the eventual game-winning rbi-single to marcel longmire, scoring scooter jordan. the saints got insurance with the very next batter, as jason colson scored krause and longmire with a 2-run double, giving the saints a 6-3 lead they wouldn’t relinquish. dustin bolton picked up the win, with marotz suffering the loss and tony pierce, who pitched a perfect bottom of the 13th, tallying his first save of the year. well, these are the kinds of games good teams win. all of the lost opportunities and mistakes can be forgotten when you leave the ballpark with a “w,” and that’s exactly what the saints left lewis and clark park with last night…
…highlights to come when i get to the radio station tonight and retrieve them off of the computer at the relevant radio studios…
The Saints continue their 3-game set with the Sioux City Explorers tonight at 7:05 P.M. CST from Lewis and Clark Park.
…talk to ya then…
During tonight’s broadcast, Sean Aronson, the voice of the St. Paul Saints, remarked that John Wesley has recently been released by the New York Mets organization. Wesley was supposed to be both a pitcher and the pitching coach for the 2008 St. Paul Saints, but Wesley was signed by the Mets before the start of the season and assigned to Single-A Port St. Lucie.
…well, i’d love for the saints to sign wesley, because he’s a talented, intelligent, and gritty 6′5” righty, but who goes? if george wants to keep tim brown, who he apparently loves, then i just don’t see how he can fit another pitcher on the team. tim brown has done nothing but impress with the bat and play solid defense — he certainly doesn’t deserve the short end of the stick here, but that bullpen sure has been taxed in the early going…
The Game:
The St. Paul Saints (5-0) look to clinch their first road series of the season tonight in the second of three against the Sioux City Explorers (1-5) at 7:05 P.M. CST from Lewis and Clark Park in Sioux City, Iowa.
The Matchup:
RHP Justin Lord (1-0, 1.42 ERA)
RHP Nick Singleton (0-0, 3.00 ERA)
The Lineups:
…surprise, surprise, i’m actually going to be moderately useful to you again tonight…
St. Paul Saints
Scooter Jordan CF
Brian Sprout SS
Brent Krause LF
Marcel Longmire RF
Jason Colson DH
Kevin Sullivan C
Tim Brown 1B
Ben Thomas 3B
Julius Thames 2B
Sioux City Explorers
Jason Tuttle CF
Nick McCoola 2B
Chris Grossman DH
Juan Camacho 1B
Alex Llanos 3B
Chad Gabriel LF
Pete Pirman RF
Sam Walker SS
Jorge Rodriguez DH
…two stories here obviously. 1. pichi balet is out for the second consecutive day. x-rays on his foot or knee (i forget what’s banged up) were negative, and apparently he feels fine today, but george is giving him another day off so that pichi is completely healed when he comes back. the key here is that george feels comfortable enough with his deep lineup and deep bench to let pichi rest for two days with the confidence that the rest of the lineup will pick him up. 2. marcel longmire gets into the field for the first time today, as he moves into RF. marcel should be fine in the field, as long as kevin sullivan is still the starting, backup, and emergency catcher…
Follow the Game:
Listen LIVE on the internet to the radio broadcast on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
…on the radio side of things, charlie beattie and i will have the pre- and post-game show, while sean aronson, the voice of the st. paul saints, will be taking care of the broadcast live from the ballpark…
And, as always, lets go Saints!
…outside of the saints’ win, it was actually a pretty tense night around the american association…
Tuesday, May 13th
Grand Prairie at Shreveport - PPD
Wichita 4 at El Paso 5
Lincoln 6 at Fort Worth 8
St. Paul 6 at Sioux City 0
Pensacola 5 at Sioux Falls 7
…first, el paso and wichita played the day game, and it was a back and forth type affair. wichita broke up a perfect game with a solo shot in the 4th before el paso put up 3 in the bottom of the inning, and then it was a game of cat and mouse; wichita cut the lead to 3-2, el paso tacked on one to go up 4-2, wichita cut it to 4-3, el paso extended it to 5-3, wichita cut it to 5-4, and then el paso finally buckled down and closed it out. in fort worth, the cats were down 6-5 going into their half of the 8th, but up a 3-spot to win the game 8-6. finally, in sioux falls, pensacola blew an early 5-0 lead, as sioux falls posted 7 unanswered runs to win that one…
Wednesday, May 14th
Grand Prairie at Shreveport (DH) - 6:05 p.m. (Game 2 to follow)
Wichita at El Paso - 11:30 a.m.
Lincoln at Fort Worth - 11:05 a.m.
St. Paul at Sioux City - 7:05 p.m.
Pensacola at Sioux Falls - 7:05 p.m.
…all times central standard time. i’ve heard conflicting reports on the start time for the grand prairie - shreveport double-header, but i think 6:05 central is correct…
…and, finally, when we wake up tomorrow morning, we are guaranteed to still see the saints in first place, just as they are today…
| NORTH DIVISION | W | L | PCT | GB | STREAK | L10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Paul | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | W 5 | 5- 0 | |
| Wichita | 4 | 2 | .667 | 1.5 | L 2 | 4- 2 |
| Sioux Falls | 3 | 2 | .600 | 2.0 | W 2 | 3- 2 |
| Sioux City | 1 | 5 | .167 | 4.5 | L 1 | 1- 5 |
| Lincoln | 1 | 5 | .167 | 4.5 | L 3 | 1- 5 |
| SOUTH DIVISION | W | L | PCT | GB | STREAK | L10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Paso | 4 | 1 | .800 | W 4 | 4- 1 | |
| Fort Worth | 4 | 2 | .667 | .5 | W 2 | 4- 2 |
| Pensacola | 3 | 2 | .600 | 1.0 | L 1 | 3- 2 |
| Shreveport | 1 | 3 | .250 | 2.5 | L 3 | 1- 3 |
| Grand Prairie | 0 | 4 | .000 | 3.5 | L 4 | 0- 4 |
The St. Paul Saints (5-0) have defeated the Sioux City Explorers (1-5) by the score of 6 to 0.
…well, we’re 5 for 5 in terms of being able to use that logo on the right after games (in case you haven’t caught the trend, i’ll use the logo of the winning team in my postGame post). this game was not exactly the most eventful, as the saints really controlled throughout. the saints pitching staff was the story tonight, as they picked up their first shutout of the season. villarreal went just 5 innings, and did walk 5 batters, but you could certainly call him effectively wild, as he didn’t surrender a run, picked up a 7 strikeouts, and didn’t allow a hit until the 5th inning. villarreal worked his way out of bases loaded jams twice in the game, including the first inning, when the saints would follow the explorers threat with 3 runs of their own in the top of the 2nd. the bullpen was untouchable yet again, as kyle foster threw 3 scoreless innings, striking out 3, and mike bille, who is the only saints reliever who has given up an earned run this season, pitched a perfect 9th inning, striking out jason tuttle to end it. on the other side of things, the saints bats were completely in the middle of the game, as they went down 1-2-3 in the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th innings during a stretch of 13 straight outs recorded by explorer pitching, but, as they have done so well this season, the saints made the most of their hits, scoring in every inning in which they picked up a hit. they began the scoring with a marcel longmire rbi double in the 1st, scoring brent krause who had reached on a error by ray navarro. in the 2nd, the saints would take a commanding lead, putting up 3 runs on a julius thames rbi base knock, scoring jason colson, and a brian sprout 2-run single with the bases juiced, scoring ben thomas and thames. with a 4-0 lead, the saints didn’t let up in the 3rd, as kevin sullivan crossed the plate after walking, moving to 2nd on a jason colson single, moving to 3rd on andre marshall’s ground-out to the right side, and scoring on a wild pitch by starter dusty bergmann. dusty was not on his game in the early going, as he would finish the night logging 5 innings and giving up 5 runs (4 earned) on 5 hits and 5 walks while striking out 4. after the saints bats had quieted down in the middle innings, kevin sullivan woke up to extend the saints lead to 6-0 with a solo shot to lead off the 8th, slamming the door on another saints win. well, there’s really not too much else you can ask from these guys. they’re 5-0. the bullpen has now registered 21.1 innings and has only given up 1 earned run. that’s simply astounding. and they got another strong start from one of their 3 aces, with villarreal fighting through a night when he didn’t have his best stuff to give the saints 5 scoreless innings of work. keep your foot on the pedal, boys…
…unfortunately, we had problems with the encoder tonight at the radio station, so the archiving feature of saints broadcasts did not work and i won’t be able to give you highlights for tonight’s game. all of the issues, however, were fixed towards the end of last night’s game, so we should be up and running with the internet stream tonight and i’ll surely have highlights for you tomorrow…
The Saints continue their 3-game set with the Sioux City Explorers tomorrow night at 7:05 P.M. CST from Lewis and Clark Park.
…talk to ya then…
The Game:
The St. Paul Saints (4-0) look to take their first road game of the season tonight in the first of three against the Sioux City Explorers (1-4) at 7:05 P.M. CST from Lewis and Clark Park in Sioux City, Iowa.
The Matchup:
LHP Luis Villarreal (0-0, 4.50 ERA)
LHP Dusty Bergmann (0-1, 9.00 ERA)
The Lineups:
…surprise, surprise, i’m actually going to be moderately useful to you tonight…
St. Paul Saints
Scooter Jordan CF
Brian Sprout SS
Brent Krause RF
Marcel Longmire DH
Kevin Sullivan C
Jason Colson 1B
Andre Marshall LF
Ben Thomas 3B
Julius Thames 2B
Sioux City Explorers
Jason Tuttle CF
Ray Navarro SS
Nick McCoola 2B
Chris Grossman DH
Juan Camacho 1B
Alex Llanos 3B
Chad Gabriel LF
Dustin Jones RF
Tug Gillingham C
Follow the Game:
Listen LIVE on the internet to the radio broadcast on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
…on the radio side of things, charlie beattie and i will have the pre- and post-game show, while sean aronson, the voice of the st. paul saints, will be taking care of the broadcast live from the ballpark…
And, as always, lets go Saints!
Jeremy Kreisberg