Extra Painful, Saints Lose To Clippers 5-3 In 10

_ST. PAUL, MN _*(August 14, 2022) - *No one in all of baseball has played more extra inning games than the St. Paul Saints. For the 17th time this season, the Saints needed more than nine innings to finish a game. For the 10th time in those 17 games they came up short, losing 5-3 to the Columbus Clippers on Sunday afternoon at CHS Field in front of 8,647.

With the game tied at two in the eighth an error proved costly for the Saints as the Clippers took their first lead of the game. With a runner at first and one out, Will Brennan hit a ground ball to third. Michael Helman’s throw to second was dropped by Nash Knight and the ball skipped behind him allowing Richie Palacios to take third. An RBI groundout by George Valera put the Clippers up 3-2.

The Saints, however, tied the game in the bottom of the inning as Chris Williams collected his first Triple-A hit, a solo homer to left-center, his first at Triple-A, making it 3-3.

In the 10th, with Bo Naylor the placed runner at second Gabriel Arias single to left putting runners at the corners. An RBI groundout by Palacios gave the Clippers a 4-3 lead. With two outs, George Valera knocked home Arias with a single to right-center giving the Clippers a two-run lead.

The Saints didn’t make any noise in the bottom of the inning going down in order.

The story early on was the pitching on both sides. Aaron Sanchez was tremendous for the Saints going 5.0 shutout innings allowing three hits while walking one and striking out four.

After failing to collect a hit for the first three innings for the third time in the series, the Saints struck first in the fourth. With one out, Mark Contreras hit a solo homer to left-center, his 12th of the season, giving the Saints a 1-0 lead.

The Saints added another run in the sixth loading the bases with nobody out on back-to-back singles by Caleb Hamilton and Contreras to lead off the inning. Williams walked. John Andreoli made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to straightaway center.

In the seventh, the Clippers tied the game at two. Valera led off the inning with a cue shot, infield single to third. Ernie Clement followed with a two-run homer to left, his first of the season.

The Saints are off Monday and return to action on Tuesday at CHS Field at 7:07 p.m. in game one of a six-game series against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (New York Yankees). The Saints send RHP Derek Rodríguez (6-3, 4.09) to the mound and the RailRiders are TBA. The game can be seen on the Saints Broadcast Network, cable access channels in and around the Twin Cities area, and MiLB.com and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.