Dobnak Dominates, Saints Catch Break In 4-2 Victory Over Mud Hens

_ST. PAUL, MN _*(September 21, 2023) - *Those in the crowd at CHS Field on Thursday night donned t-shirts with Randy Dobnak’s iconic glasses and fu manchu look while raising awareness of St. Jude Children’s Hospital’s plight to eradicate childhood cancer. Dobnak, along with his wife Aerial, have utilized their platform to help bring awareness to the cause. While his philanthropic efforts were applauded, so was what he did on the mound. His six strong innings kept the Saints in the game before a huge error in the seventh inning opened the door for a 4-2 comeback victory over the Toledo Mud Hens in front of 6,547. The win improves the Saints to 40-32 in the second half.

It looked like it was going to be a long night for Dobnak as the first three batters reached against him in the first. Nick Solak led off the game by being hit by a pitch and Justyn-Henry Malloy followed with a walk. Colt Keith made it 1-0 with an RBI double to right-center. Dobnak settled down and got back-to-back strikeouts and a flyout to prevent further damage.

Dobnak allowed at least one runner in the next four innings, but was aided by two double plays. He finished off the night with his lone clean inning in the sixth. Dobnak went 6.0 innings allowing one run on three hits while walking four and striking out seven.

The Saints, meanwhile, couldn’t do anything against former Minnesota Twins draft pick Bruan Sammons who tossed 6.0 scoreless innings.

In the seventh, the Mud Hens added to their lead against two-way player Andrew Bechtold. With one out, Dillon Dingler walked, Michael Papierski looped a single into left and Solak walked to load the bases. Malloy made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to right.

A costly error in the seventh helped get the Saints on the board and eventually the lead for good. Brooks Lee led off the inning with a single to left-center. With one out, Kyle Garlick hit a ground ball to third, but Malloy’s throw to second was wide and went into foul territory in right field. Lee scored all the way from first and Garlick went to third cutting the deficit to 2-1. Jair Camargo followed with a hit by pitch, putting runners at the corners. A wild pitch scored Garlick and sent Camargo to second, tying the game at two. With two outs, Hernán Pérez gave the Saints their first lead of the night with an RBI single to left-center. Michael Helman then singled, moving Pérez to second. After a pitching change, Byron Buxton came through with an RBI single into left-center making it 4-2. Buxton finished the night 1-4 with an RBI.

The other Major League rehabber, Joey Gallo, went 0-3 with a walk.

The same two teams meet in game four of a six-game series on Friday night at CHS Field at 6:37 p.m. The Saints send RHP Blayne Enlow (2-5, 7.87) to the mound and the Mud Hens are TBA. The game can be seen on the Saints Broadcast Network, cable access channels in and around the Twin Cities, the Bally Live app (free) and MiLB.TV (subscription), and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.