Saints Finish Off Sweep Of Red Wings, Win 5-1 For Franchise Record Tying Seventh Straight Victory

ST. PAUL, MN (June 12, 2022) - What a difference a few weeks makes. The last time the St. Paul Saints were headed to Columbus they lost their final game at home to the Iowa Cubs and that started a string of 11 consecutive losses. They will head to Columbus this time on an extreme high after a 5-1 victory over the Rochester Red Wings. The win ties a franchise record of seven straight victories and is their first six-game sweep at home in franchise history. The Saints are now 30-29, the first time they’ve been over .500 since they were 15-14 on May 10.

For the second consecutive game Alex Kirilloff got the Saints on the board with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first, his ninth of the season, making it 1-0. The home run also tied the Memphis Redbirds for most consecutive games with a home run this season by any team, Major League or Minor League, at 17.

The Saints tacked on two more in the second as Elliot Soto walked with one out. David Bañuelos followed with an RBI double putting the Saints up 2-0. Kirilloff continued his torrid month with an RBI single to center increasing the lead to 3-0.

The Saints pitching was the big story on Sunday and it started with Jake Faria. In his best start of the season he was in control all game long. He allowed two, two-out singles in the first, but retired Josh Palacios on a lineout to left to end the inning.

Faria retired eight in a row from the second inning through two outs in the fourth before walking Taylor Gushue. Faria got Ildemaro Vargas to fly out to end the inning.

The Red Wings lone run came the fifth when Matt Lipka tripled and scored on a groundout from Andrew Stevenson cutting the Saints lead to 3-1. Faria went 5.0 innings allowing one run on four hits while walking one and striking out two. He lowered his ERA by three-quarters of a run from 7.12 to 6.48.

As the Saints have done recently, they immediately answered back in the bottom of the inning. Michael Helman and Jake Cave started the inning with back-to-back singles putting runners at the corners. After a fielder’s choice by Mark Contreras erased Helman in a run down, Contreras stole second. Jermaine Palacios put the Saints up 5-1 with a two-run single.

The Saints bullpen did the rest as Hunter Wood, JC Ramírez, Drew Strotman, and Yennier Cano all tossed 1.0 shutout inning allowing one hit while striking out five.

The Saints have Monday off and are back in action on Tuesday at Huntington Park to take on the Columbus Clippers (Cleveland Guardians) at 6:05 p.m. (CT). Both teams are TBA. You can watch the game on MiLB.TV and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.