The St. Paul Saints got back to their winning ways on Monday night as they defeated the Joplin Blasters 5-1. THe win comes just one night after the Saints saw their 10 game winning streak snapped by the Sioux Falls Canaries.
The Saints got started right away as they scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a Alonzo Harris leadoff single. He proceeded to steal second base and scored on a Willie Argo single to left field. Argo then scored on an Ian Gac RBI double to left field. Angelo Songco then hit a single to drive in Gac to give the Saints a 3-0 lead.
The teams would trade zeroes untill the sixth inning when the Blasters used a double from Maikol Gonzalez, who then scored on a error by Sam Maus on a ground ball to second base. That would be all for starter Robert Coe, who was replaced by Mike Zouzilak, who got Omar Luna to ground into a fielder's choice to end the inning.
The Saints would return the favor in the bottom of the inning when Mike Kvasnicka hit a leadoff triple to right field. He scored on an Angelo Songco RBI single to right center field. The Saints added a run in the seventh inning when Gac hit a home run to left field to make it a 5-1 Saints lead.
Joplin wasn't done their, as they scored in the eighth after a Gonzalez single. He then stole second, and scored when Oscar Mesa hit a double over Argo's head. That would be the end of the night for Zouzalik, who gave way to Alex Sogard, who faced one batter, and gave up a RBI single to score Mesa. He then gave way to Ryan Rodebaugh, who used a strikeout and a flyout to center field to escape the inning. He would then pitch the ninth inning, although he did get into a two on with two out jam, but he got out of it and the Saints won by a final score of 5-4.