Saints Ninth Inning Rally Falls Short In 7-4 Loss To Mud Hens

_TOLEDO, OH _*(March 31, 2023) - *

It took the St. Paul Saints bats eight innings to get going, but they woke up in the ninth. Unfortunately, the furious rally fell short as they left the tying run in the on deck circle, losing 7-4 to the Toledo Mud Hens on Friday night at Fifth Third Field.

With the Saints trailing 7-1 going into the ninth, Kyle Garlick got things started with a solo homer to left, his first of the season, getting the Saints to within 7-2. Mark Contreras followed with a single to left and with one out Andrew Stevenson walked. Jair Camargo made it 7-3 with an RBI double to right-center. Hernán Perez’ RBI groundout got the Saints to within three, but with the tying run in Edouard Julien waiting on deck, Andrew Bechtold struck out to end the game.

The Mud Hens struck first in the first as Parker Meadows doubled to left-center with two outs. Major League rehabber Tyler Nevin drilled a triple off the wall just to the left of center scoring Meadows to give the Mud Hens a 1-0 lead.

In the third, the Mud Hens added to the lead as Zack Short led off the inning with a walk. With one out, Nevin singled to center as Short moved to third. A sacrifice fly from Andre Lipcius scored Short, making it 2-0, and the throwing error to the plate by Matt Wallner allowed Nevin to take third. Justyn-Henry Malloy then popped one up in back of first that first baseman Tyler White backpedaled on, tried to make the basket catch, but the ball caromed in and out of his glove for an error that allowed Nevin to score increasing the Mud Hens lead to 3-0.

Julien got the Saints on the board in the sixth with a solo homer to left-center, his first of the season, making it 3-1.

The Mud Hens put the game out of reach in the seventh with a four spot. Jonathan Davis led off the inning with a single to left and, with one out, Short walked. Cody Laweryson took over for José De León and struck out Meadows. Andy Ibanez, who took over for Nevin after the fifth inning, followed with a three-run homer to left-center, his first of the season, putting the Mud Hens up 6-1. The next three hitters all reached as Andre Lipcius singled, Malloy walked, and Donny Sands’ RBI single to right scored Lipcius making it 7-1 Mud Hens.

The Saints committed four errors for just the second time in franchise history. The only other time they had four errors was on July 18, 2021 vs. Columbus.

The same two teams meet in game two of a three-game series on Saturday evening at 3:05 p.m. (CT) at Fifth Third Field. The Saint send RHP Aaron Sanchez (NR) to the mound against Mud Hens RHP Reese Olson (NR). The game can be heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.