postGame: Saints @ Explorers (Game One)

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 an 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…

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…

Tags: Highlights, postGame, Sioux City Explorers