After a 2-0 pitcher’s duel on Tuesday night, the St. Paul Saints and the Sioux City Explorers were looking for the offense to come alive in an afternoon matinee at CHS Field in St. Paul. The pitching matchup featured Jeff Shields for the Saints and John Straka for the Explorers.

The Saints got the scoring started in the first inning when Willie Argo got a one-out single to left center field. He advanced to third when Vinny DiFazio doubled to left center field, which set up Angelo Songco for an RBI groundout to second base to give the Saints the 1-0 lead. Mike Kvasnicka was unable to get any other runs across as he flew out to right field to end the inning.

The Explorers took advantage of some Saints mistakes to score in the second inning when Noah Perio hit a double to right center field that fell in between the fielders. He advanced to third on a groundout to the shortstop by Ryan Court, then scored when Shields threw a wild pitch while intentionally walking Tommy Mendonca to tie the game.

The teams then exchanged zeroes until the fifth inning when the Saints tacked on another run. It happened after Harris hit a single to left field then advanced to second on a bad throw by Tim Colwell. Harris would advance to third on a wild pitch, and then scored on a wild pitch to give the Saints a 2-1 lead.

The Saints offense exploded in the seventh behind a two-run home run by Angelo Songco that scored DiFazio and gave the Saints a 4-1 lead. Kvasnicka then hit a double to left field and then he scored when Lashley singled to right center field. Anthony Phillips followed with a double which allowed Nate Hanson to score and make it a 6-1 game.

At that point, the Saints brought in Mike Zouzalik to finish the game on the mound. He worked a perfect eighth inning, and after the Saints failed to score in their half of the eighth, Zouzalik returned to the mound to work the ninth inning. The first batter he faced was Ryan Court, who struck out looking for the first out of the inning. The next batter was Tommy Mendonca, who struck out swinging for the second out of the inning. That left it up to Brendan Slattery to keep the game going for the Explorers. He would ground out to shortstop to end the game and give the Saints the 6-1 win.

The win was the 63rd of the season for the Saints, which is the most wins in a single season for manager George Tsamis in his whole managerial career. The win also clinched the season series for the Saints, which would come in handy potentially in the playoffs if they meet up in the championship round.

The two teams will play the final game of the series on Thursday night at 7:05 PM. The starting pitchers are still to be determined.

Win- Jeff Shields

Loss- John Straka

Player Of The Game- Angelo Songco (St Paul)