Saints 12-Game Roadtrip Comes To An End With 8-6 Loss To Storm Chasers

OMAHA, NE (May 22, 2022) - CHS Field never looked so good to the St. Paul Saints. Their 12-game roadtrip came to a conclusion on Sunday afternoon at Werner Park in Omaha and it ended the way it began, with a loss. The Saints scored four runs in the first inning, had the tying runs in scoring position in the ninth, but lost 8-6 to the Omaha Storm Chasers.

Down 8-4 in the eighth the Saints attempted to mount a comeback. Mark Contreras led off the inning by reaching on an error by first baseman Angelo Castellano when he dropped a throw from second baseman Clay Dungan. With two outs, Cave reached on a hard single off the shin of pitcher Jose Cuas putting runners at the corners. Back-to-back RBI singles by Cole Sturgeon and Elliot Soto got the Saints to within two at 8-6.

In the ninth, David Bañuelos led off with a double to left-center. Royce Lewis collected his third hit of the game with a single to right putting runners at the corners with nobody out. On strike three to Alex Kirilloff, Lewis stole second putting the tying runs in scoring position with one out, but Arodys Vizcaino struck out Mark Contreras and Curtis Terry to end the game.

The first inning was once again kind to the Saints as they matched their total from Saturday night. Royce Lewis led off with a 111-mph double down the left field line. Alex Kirilloff singled him home with a 103-mph single into right giving the Saints a 1-0 lead. After a walk to Mark Contreras, Curtis Terry blasted a 413-foot home run that came off the bat at 105 mph, his fifth of the season, putting the Saints up 4-0.

Unlike Saturday night, the four runs wouldn’t stand up. The Storm Chasers answered right back in the bottom of the inning. Iván Castillo led off with a single to right. Nick Pratto walked and, with one out, Vinnie Pasquantino doubled them both home cutting the lead to 4-2. Brewer Hicklen followed with an RBI double as the Saints lead shrunk to 4-3.

The Storm Chasers tied the game in the second when Jimmy Govern led off with a single to right, moved to second on a sacrifice, and scored on a single by Castillo.

The power hitting Vinnie Pasquantino, who hit .391 with 13 RBI in the series, gave the Storm Chasers the lead in the sixth with a solo homer to right, his 10th of the season, making it 5-4.

The Storm Chasers pushed across three insurance runs in the seventh with Govern leading off with an infield single to short. Castellano walked putting runners at first and second. With one out, Pratto’s RBI single made it 6-4. Pasquantino followed with a two-run single increasing the lead to 8-4.

The Saints have Monday off and return home to CHS Field to begin a seven-game series over six days against the Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh Pirates) on Tuesday at 11:07 a.m. Both teams are TBA. The game can be seen on the Saints Broadcast Network, cable access channels in and around the Twin Cities area, and MiLB.TV and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.