ST. PAUL, Minn. – The St. Paul Saints snapped a four-game losing streak on Friday night in walk-off fashion, as Kes Carter hit a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Saints a 6-5 win over the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks, who he used to play for.

Saints score first

It was a battle of the long balls, as both teams went deep multiple times during the game. Despite that, there were runs that scored without the help of home runs.

The first run that the Saints scored came in the second inning when Tony Thomas reached on an error by the second baseman. After Carter doubled him to third, he scored on a wild pitch to put the Saints up 1-0 early.

Rob Coe got the start for the Saints, his first start of the season, and was rolling early, as he breezed through the first two innings without allowing a hit. The first hit that he allowed was in the third inning when Charlie Valerio led off with a single to center field, and later advanced to second when Yohixan Medina walked.

They both scored when Chris Grayson hit the first home run of the night, this one over the right field fence to give the Redhawks the lead.

The Saints responded in kind in the bottom of the inning, as they put up three runs of their own. It all started when Tim Colwell led off with a single to center field and advanced to second on a balk.

After Mitch Delfino hit a sacrifice fly to move him to third, he scored when Anthony Gallas doubled to left field. Thomas came up to the plate a few batters later and singled, which allowed Brady Shoemaker and Gallas to score, while he took second on the throw. That put St. Paul back in the driver’s seat.

Kang goes deep to reclaim the lead for Fargo

Their time in the lead was short lived, however, as the Redhawks picked up two runs in the fourth on a two-run home run from K.D. Kang. Coe was able to recover and retired the rest of the side without allowing another base runners.

The Saints tied the game in their half of the fourth when Jon Kristoffersen hit a home run into the bullpen in left field for his first professional home run.

The game settled down after that, as it was still a tie game heading into the bottom of the ninth inning, where Carter walked-off his former team to give his current team a much-needed win.

Coe picked up the win, his first of the season. Trey McNutt,  who came in to pitch the final two innings, picked up the loss, his third of the season. Game two of the series will be on Saturday night when the Saints will send Jason Creasy (4-5, 5.10) to the mound. The Redhawks are TBA with their starter. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Game Info

FM – 003 200 000 – 5 7 1

SP  – 013 100 001 – 6 6 1 

Time of game - 2:40

Attendance - 9,054

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About the author
Stevie Larson
NASCAR Editor, Minnesota sports fan. Contact: [email protected]