The St. Paul Saints and the Winnipeg Goldeyes began a three-game series Saturday night at CHS Field in St. Paul. The Saints sent Jeff Shields to the mound, while Winnipeg countered with last year's American Association pitcher of the year Nick Hernandez.

The Goldeyes got started immediately, as they put up two runs in the first inning after Casey Hearther got a two-out base hit to right field, which was followed up by a Josh Mazzola single to left field. Reggie Abercrombie then hit a single, which scored Hearther and allowed Mazzola to advance to third base. Brad Boyer then reached on a error by shortstop Anthony Phillips, which allowed Mazzola to score. Shields then got out of the inning when Ryan Babineau grounded out to Phillips to end the inning.

The Saints had a hard time getting their explosive offense started, as they were unable to get a run until the fourth inning when Willie Argo led off with a double to left field. Vinny DiFazio then followed it up with a monster home run to left field to tie the game. The Saints were unable to get any more runs in the inning, as they went down in order from their.

Winnipeg responded the next half inning when Casio Grider led off with a single to center field. He then advanced to third when Hearther doubled to left center field. Mazzola then drove in Grider with a sacrifice fly out to left field to give Winnipeg the lead back. They added another run that same inning when Abercrombie singled to right field to score Hearther and give Winnipeg a two run lead.

The Saints took the lead in their half of the sixth inning as they put up three runs on Hernandez. DiFazio got a one-out single to start the scoring, followed by Angelo Songco getting hit by a pitch. Ryan Lashley then singled to left field to load the bases. Steve Nikorak would follow that up with a line drive to center field that bounced over the wall for a ground rule double. That allowed DiFazio and Songco to score, while Lashley advanced to third. Anthony Phillips then hit a single that the third baseman could not handle, which allowed Lashley to score and give the Saints a 5-4 lead.

The Saints scored again in the eighth inning when Ryan Lashley drew a two-out walk. Steve Nikorak would seal the deal with a home run to right field to extend the Saints lead to 7-4. For Nikorak, it was his third home run since coming back from being hit in the face against Fargo-Moorhead in June.

The Saints then brought in Ryan Rodebaugh to attempt to finish the game and pick up the save. The first batter he faced was Chris Robinson, who struck out swinging for the first out of the inning. That brought up Luis Allen, who grounded out to the right fielder for the second out of the inning. Adam Heisler then stepped up to the plate as the last hope for the Goldeyes. He advanced to first base after a pitch hit him, which put a runner on first with two outs for Casio Grider, who struck out on three pitches to end the game. The win means that the Saints magic number to clinch the American Association North division is just six. That means any combination of six Saints wins or six Winnipeg losses would make the Saints division champions.

The two teams play again Sunday evening as the Saints will send LHP Pedro Hernandez to the mound, while the Goldeyes will counter with RHP Tony Smith.

Win- Jeff Shields (10-1)

Loss- Nick Hernandez (8-5)

Save- Ryan Rodebaugh (18)

Player of the game- Steve Nikorak