postGame: Saints @ Explorers (Game Two)
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, who 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, 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 stranded 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…
Tags: Highlights, postGame, Sioux City Explorers
