The Game:

The First Place St. Paul Saints (9-7) begin their final series before the All-Star Break tonight against the Second Place Lincoln Saltdogs (8-7) at 7:05 P.M. from Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The Matchup:

RHP Justin Lord (4-7, 3.70 ERA)

RHP Jarrett Gardner (6-3, 4.16 ERA)

…i will not have lineups tonight, as i am not working this game.  however, you can follow the game with sean aronson…

Follow the Game:

Listen LIVE on the internet to the radio broadcast on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.

And, as always, lets go Saints!

…given the rain, this was a light night in terms of games.  however, the games played featured plenty of action to make up for it…

Thursday, July 17

Wichita 1 at Fort Worth 0 - F/11
Sioux Falls at Lincoln - PPD
Sioux City 1 at St.Paul 4

…the wichita-fort worth game was one of the best of the year.  fort worth’s joel kirsten took a perfect game into the seventh before blake gailen broke it up.  the teams went to extra innings in a scoreless tie, but, at 9:35, with the game about to enter the 11th inning, the lights went out at legrave field in fort worth.  when play resumed, wichita scored off of all-star closer jon hunton to take a 1-0 lead, and they’d hold on to win it by that score…

Friday, July 18

Shreveport at El Paso - 7:05 p.m.
Pensacola at Fort Worth - 7:05 p.m.
St. Paul at Lincoln - 7:05 p.m.
Grand Prairie at Sioux Falls - 7:05 p.m.
Sioux City at Wichita - 7:05 p.m.

…unfortunately, a saints loss tonight will put them back in second place.  on the flipside, they can begin to distance themselves with a win tonight…

The St. Paul Saints (9-7) defeated the Sioux City Explorers (7-9) last night by the score of 4 to 1.

…as you’ve all noticed, time has been very, very hard to come by wit the all-star game approaching.  i apologize, but posting will continue to be light until tuesday’s festivities have ended…

As such, for a recap of the Saints 4-1 win, keyed by Mark Romanczuk getting out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the second inning already trailing 1-0 with three errors having been committed in the inning, visit SaintsBaseball.com, and, for a boxscore, visit the American Association Website.

…and, with sioux city and lincoln getting rained out, the saints are in sole possession of first place in the north division second half standings…

The Game:

The Second Place St. Paul Saints ( 8-7 ) play the rubber game of a three game series against the Fourth Place Sioux City Explorers ( 7-8 ) tonight at 7:05 P.M. CST from Midway Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Matchup:

LHP Timothy Layden (4-4, 3.99 ERA)

LHP Mark Romanczuk (0-0, 5.74 ERA)

The Lineups:

Sioux City Explorers

Dustin Jones CF

Jason Tuttle RF

Alex Llanos 2B

Chris Grossman C

Juan Camacho 3B

Chad Gabriel LF

Nick McCoola SS

Derek Schermerhorn 1B

Sam Walker DH

St. Paul Saints

Tony Mansolino 2B

Ben Thomas 3B

Pichi Balet DH

Marcel Longmire 1B

Brent Krause CF

Heath Keel RF

Kevin Sullivan C

Julius Thames LF

Ryan Priddy SS

…surprise, surprise, julius thames is back in left field…

Follow the Game:

Listen LIVE on the internet to the radio broadcast on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.

If you’re at home, check out the action on your local Saints Cable Network (channel 19 - SPNN - in St. Paul).

And, as always, lets go Saints!

Tuesday, July 15

Shreveport 4 at Grand Prairie 9 - F/5
El Paso 4 at Pensacola 2
Wichita 5 at Fort Worth 3
Sioux Falls 4 at Lincoln 1 - F/8
Sioux City 11 at St.Paul 0

Wednesday, July 16

Shreveport 1 at Grand Prairie 5
El Paso 5 at Pensacola 4
Wichita 2 at Fort Worth 10
Sioux Falls 12 at Lincoln 3
Sioux City 0 at St.Paul 4

Thursday, July 17

Wichita at Fort Worth - 7:05 p.m.
Sioux Falls at Lincoln - 7:05 p.m.
Sioux City at St.Paul - 7:05 p.m.

…so the saints nearly get no-hit, and, one day later, they find themselves here…

…day games after night games are not only hard on catchers…

The St. Paul Saints (8-7) split the first two games of a three-game series with the Sioux City Explorers (7-8), losing on Tuesday night by the score of 11 to 0 and winning on Wednesday afternoon by the score of 4 to 0.

…this was the tale of two games, to say the least, as the saints were shut out on tuesday night, only to return the favor on wednesday.  charlie ruud has been the stopper all year long, but, now, here’s the hard part: carry the momentum from today’s win into tomorrow and the next day and the day after that…

For a recap of the Saints’ 11-0 loss to the Explorers, in which Nick Singleton carried a no-hitter into the seventh before losing it with two outs on a Tim Brown single, visit SaintsBaseball.com, and, for a boxscore, visit the American Association Website.

For a recap of the Saints’ 4-0 win today, in which Charlie Ruud hurled 8.0 shutout innings and struck out a season-high seven Explorers, visit SaintsBaseball.com.

The Game:

The Second Place St. Paul Saints (7-6) play the first game of a three game series against the Third Place Sioux City Explorers (6-7) tonight at 7:05 P.M. CST from Midway Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Matchup:

RHP Nick Singleton (4-4, 2.76 ERA)

RHP Dustin Bolton (4-2, 2.58 ERA)

The Lineups:

…coming soon…

Follow the Game:

Listen LIVE on the internet to the radio broadcast on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.

If you’re at home, check out the action on your local Saints Cable Network (channel 19 - SPNN - in St. Paul).

And, as always, lets go Saints!

Dustin Bolton was named the American Association Teamline Direct Pitcher of the Week for the week of July 6-13.  In that week, Bolton hurled a complete game three-hit shutout against the Shreveport Sports, earning a spot on the North Division All Star Team.  The following is from the Saints’ press release:

The 26-year-old Bolton dominated the Shreveport Sports on July 9 allowing just one runner to reach as far as second base, a two out first inning double by Ron Fenwick. He walked just one and struck out three while throwing 97 pitches, 66 for strikes. He never allowed more than one runner to reach base in any one inning. The complete game shutout was the first of his professional career. Following the game, North Division Manager George Tsamis named Bolton to the All-Star Team replacing Saints reliever Craig Molldrem, who was signed by the Boston Red Sox organization earlier in the day.

 

            Bolton is 4-2 with a 2.58 ERA in 18 games pitched (four starts) this season. In 59.1 innings pitched he has walked 15 while striking out 30 while the opposition is hitting .245 against him. Bolton began the season in the bullpen and had a miniscule 1.93 ERA out of relief. 

 

            This is the first Teamline Direct Player of the Week Award won by a Saint this season.

The Saints were scheduled to fly from Pensacola to Atlanta to St. Paul yesterday, arriving in St. Paul around 11 a.m.  Their flight arrived in Atlanta three hours late, they missed their connecting flight, and ultimately arrived at Midway Stadium at about 2 a.m. this morning.

…yawn…

I forgot to mention it last week, but with Charlie Ruud starting last Friday night, you might’ve been wondering where the extra roster spot had come from.  The answer is that Steve Butler was placed on the DL, leaving the Saints roster at 22 players with Scooter Jordan on the inactive list and Steve Butler on the DL.