Hall of Fame Performance: Saints Homer Four Times Off Verlander, Crush Mud Hens 12-1

TOLEDO, OH (June 10, 2026) - The St. Paul Saints did it against not one, but two future Hall of Famers on Major League rehab. They became just the fifth team to ever homer four times in a game off Justin Verlander then grabbed three more runs off Kenley Jansen. On a night when 10,500 at Fifth Third Field came out to watch Verlander, it was the Saints offense that put on the show in a 12-1 beat down of the Toledo Mud Hens on Wednesday night.

Aaron Sabato got the Saints on the board in the second with a leadoff home run off Verlander, a 405-foot shot to left on a slider at the top of the zone, his 12^th of the season making it 1-0.

Kyler Fedko equaled Sabato’s feat in the third with a leadoff homer to left-center, his 15^th of the season, doubling the Saints lead to 2-0. Fedko went 2-3, with a home run and single off Verlander, two walks, and three runs scored.

Meanwhile, the Saints had their own Major League rehabber on the mound in Mick Abel. He barely broke a sweat. He gave up a leadoff single in the first to Max Clark and then retired the next three, two on strikeouts. After starting the second with a strikeout, Abel gave up a triple that went in and out of the glove of the center fielder Fedko, but struck out Jace Jung and got Tyler Gentry to ground out ending the inning. Abel went 3.0 shutout innings allowing two hits while striking out five. He threw 47 pitches, 34 for strikes. He threw 23 fastballs that averaged 96.3 mph and topped out at 97.9 mph.

For the third time in the game the Saints led off an inning with a home run off Verlander as Matt Wallner walloped a 434-foot blast to right in the sixth, his sixth of the season, increasing the lead to 3-0. The long ball gave Wallner 47 in his Saints career, one shy of tying the Saints Triple-A franchise record. Gabby Gonzalez made it back-to-back home runs by drilling one just inside the left field pole, his ninth of the season, giving the Saints a 4-0 lead. The Saints became just the fifth team to hit four homers off Verlander in a game joining the Cleveland Indians/Guardians (twice), Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, and New York Yankees. Verlander went 5.2 innings allowing four runs on five hits while walking two and striking out three.

Ben Malgeri got one back for the Mud Hens with a solo homer in the sixth, his eighth of the season, cutting the Saints lead to 4-1.

The Saints blew the game wide open in the seventh off another future Hall of Famer, Kenley Jansen. With two out and nobody on they scored six runs. Kaelen Culpepper started it with a single to center. He stole second and Fedko walked. The runners moved up on a wild pitch and Wallner laced a two-run single to left-center pushing the lead to 6-1 and chasing Jansen. Wallner went 2-5 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs scored. Gabby Gonzalez greeted new pitcher Yoniel Curet with a single to right as Wallner took third. Sabato’s bloop single into right-center plated Wallner making it 7-1. Ben Ross gave the Saints a 9-1 lead with a two-run triple to center. After a walk to Tanner Schobel, Noah Cardenas finished off the inning with an RBI infield single to second upping the Saints lead to 10-1. Jansen went 0.2 innings allowing three runs on two hits while walking one and striking out one.

In the eighth, the Saints put the finishing touches on the game when Fedko walked and with two outs Gonzalez doubled to center putting runners at second and third. Gonzalez went 3-5, a triple shy of a cycle, with an RBI and three runs scored. Sabato capped off his night with a two-run double down the first base line making it 12-1. Sabato finished 3-5, a triple shy of the cycle, four RBI, and two runs scored.

Ricky Castro picked up his first Triple-A win tossing 2.0 shutout innings, allowing one hit, while walking one and striking out four.

The same two teams meet in game three of a six-game series at Fifth Third Field at 6:05 p.m. (CT). The Saints send RHP Austin Voth (1-2, 3.28) to the mound against Mud Hens RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long (2-3, 5.02). The game can be heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.