The St. Paul Saints and the Sioux City Explorers played game two of a three-game series Wednesday night in Sioux City with the Saints looking to clinch the American Association North division.

The Saints started right away in the first inning against Patrick Johnson with a Willie Argo walk, which set up Vinny DiFazio for a two-run home run to left field. Angelo Songco then followed that up with a double off the left field wall. The Saints were unable to convert that into any runs, as Mike Kvasnicka and Ryan Lashley both flew out to end the inning.

Sioux City tied the game in the second inning when Ryan Court hit a one-out home run to cut the lead to 2-1. Tommy Mendonca then hit a single to right center field, and advanced to second when Matt Koch singled to left field. Koch was then retired when Tim Colwell hit into a fielder’s choice. That allowed Mendonca to advance to third. Matty Johnson then drove him in with an RBI single to tie the game. Brent Keys would strike out to end the inning.

The Saints retook the lead in the fourth inning when Kvasnicka hit a double to center field that nearly cleared the fence. He then advanced to third when Lashley hit a single to right center field, then scored on a Paciorek RBI fielder’s choice. They would add another in the fifth when Willie Argo hit a home run to left field to extend the lead to 4-2.

Kramer Sneed got into a jam in the fifth inning when the Explorers had runners on the corners with nobody out, but was able to get out of it with a strikeout of Tosoni and two flyouts from Kjeldgaard and Court.

Sioux City did get a run in the sixth inning when Mendonca led off with a double. He then advanced to third when Koch flew out to center fielder Alonzo Harris. Mendonca then scored when Colwell hit a sacrifice flyout to make the score 4-3 in favor of the Saints.

The Saints got an insurance run in the seventh when Argo led off with a single. He then advanced to second base when DiFazio grounded out to third base. After Songco popped out, Kvasnicka hit a RBI single to score Argo. Kvasnicka then was thrown out trying to advance to second base.

The Saints had another chance in the eighth inning when Anthony Phillips hit a two-out triple. He would be stranded at third when Dan Kaczrowski struck out for the third time on the night to leave the score at 5-3 in favor of the Saints.

That would be all, as both teams turned the game over to their closers for the ninth inning. The Explorers sent Jose Florez to pitch to the Saints, and he managed to strike out the side. That set up Ryan Rodebaugh to finish the game for the Saints. The first batter he faced was Matty Johnson, who flew out to left field for the first out. Rodebaugh then struck out Brent Keys for the second out. That left it up to Rene Tosoni, who flew out to Alonzo Harris to end the game.

The win ended the 14-game win streak that the Explorers had been on. It also lowers the Saints magic number to clinch the division to just one. Winnipeg won, so the Saints only need a win Thursday evening to clinch the division. The two teams play Thursday night in the series finale.

Win- Kramer Sneed

Loss- Patrick Johnson

Save- Ryan Rodebaugh