Got Heeeem, Saints Rally Late To Beat Clippers 6-5

_ST. PAUL, MN _*(August 13, 2022) - *On a night Kevin Millar had his number 15 retired at CHS Field, the St. Paul Saints didn’t disappoint the Forever Saints. The Saints came from behind late to knock off the Columbus Clippers 6-5 in front of 8,613.

With the Saints down two in the seventh, Andrew Bechtold led off with a walk. A fielder’s choice by Braden Bishop erased Bechtold at second. That brought up John Andreoli. He crushed a two-run homer to left, his ninth with the Saints and 11th of the season, tying the game at five.

The Saints took the lead in the eighth when Matt Wallner ripped a one out double into the gap in left-center field. The next hitter, Jermaine Palacios, was mired in an 0-25 slump. With Palacios at the plate, a wild pitch sent Wallner to third. Palacios then ended his hitless streak with a fly ball double to right scoring Wallner giving the Saints a 6-5 lead.

Brad Peacock came on in the ninth and retired the side in order picking up his second save with the Saints and ninth of the season.

The Saints jumped all over Clippers starter Tanner Tully in the first. Michael Helman led off with a single to left and advanced to second when the ball skipped by the left fielder, Will Brennan. Roy Morales made it 1-0 with an RBI single to center. Wallner followed with a two-run blast to right, his third of the season, giving the Saints a 3-0 lead. Those would be the last hits the Saints collected off Tully, who didn’t allow a hit over his next 4.0 innings of work.

The Clippers got one back in the second when David Fry led off the inning with a solo homer to center, his 14th of the season, making it 3-1.

In the third, the Clippers got another solo home run, this time from Gabriel Arias, his 11th of the season, cutting the Saints lead to 3-2.

The Clippers grabbed the lead in the fifth when Brennan was it by a pitch with one on and one out. With runners at first and second, Fry tied the games with a single to left. Following a pitching change, Oscar Mercado’s double down the third base line scored Brennan putting the Clippers up 4-3.

A bizarre play in the seventh allowed the Clippers to extend their lead. Arias led off the inning by reaching on an error by the shortstop Palacios. A walk put runners at first and second. Fry flew out to center and Arias tagged and went to third. Brennan stole second which put runners at second and third. Mercado then hit a grounder to third. Andrew Bechtold threw home, and catcher Caleb Hamilton threw back to Bechtold, but he missed the tag on Arias. Brennan wound up at third on the play. With both players occupying third, Bechtold tagged both Brennan and Arias. Since Arias occupied third first, he was safe and Brennan was out, but Arias broke for home in all the confusion and scored without a throw putting the Clippers up 5-3.

The same two teams meet in the finale of the six-game series on Sunday afternoon at 2:07 p.m. The Saints send RHP Aaron Sanchez (4-2, 4.08) to the mound against Clippers RHP Cody Morris (0-0, 3.18). The game can be seen on 45TV and MiLB.TV and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.