postGame: Saints @ Canaries (Game One)
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. with the saints taking a 3-0 lead on a series of 3rd inning hits, including a scooter jordan rbi base knock, a brian sprout rbi single, and a marcel longmire rbi single, it appeared that this game would go the way the previous 7 did, but 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 before marcel longmire homered to cut the deficit to 4. 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, who was frustrated by a close call at the plate, 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…
Tags: Highlights, postGame, Sioux Falls Canaries
