ST PAUL, Minnesota -- The St. Paul Saints were in desperate need of a strong start from Mark Hamburger on Wednesday afternoon, as the past few nights have seen the bullpen used very heavily. Hamburger responded and pitched into the eighth inning and claimed the win -- his seventh of the season.

"He pitched great," manager George Tsamis said after the game. "Mark (Hamburger) has pitched well all season, and it's nice to be able to give the bullpen a little bit of a rest after so much use recently."

Saints score first

Hamburger received plenty of run support with the Saints scoring in the bottom of the first. Alonzo Harris led off the inning with a single to center field, then stole both second and third base before Tony Thomas drove him in with a sacrifice fly to center field to give St. Paul an early lead, which was something they had been lacking recently.

They added three more in the third inning, and it started when Breland Almadova hit a home run to right field. Nate Hanson and Angelo Songco both drew walks, setting up Thomas to hit a single to left field to score Hanson. Songco scored when the next batter, Willie Argo, reached on an error by the shortstop.

Harris makes a catch during the game.
(Betsy Bissen/St. Paul Saints)

Almadova led off the next inning with another extra base hit, this one being a triple to right-center field. He then stole home with Nate Hanson batting to give the Saints another run. 

They added two more in the fifth when Tony Caldwell hit a one-out double. Maxx Garrett followed with a single to left field to advance Caldwell to third base. Caldwell scored when the pitcher tried to pick off Garrett, but threw the ball away, allowing everybody to advance a base. Garrett advanced to third when Sam Maus singled, and scored when harris hit a sacrifice fly to center field. 

That was more then Hamburger needed, as he only allowed four runs, with just one run being earned. He gave way in the eighth inning to Caleb Thielbar, who finished the inning before turning the game over to Ryan Rodebaugh, who worked a relatively clean ninth inning to pick up his ninth save of the season.

The win was the 27th of the season for the Saints, and as of right now, their lead in the North division is 4.5 games over the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks, who play later tonight.

These two teams will play the final game of the three-game series on Thursday night, with neither team revealing who will pitch the game.

Quick Hits

- The Saints made some roster moves over the last few days, as they activated Maus off the disabled list and released Kody Knaus. 

- Harris played his second straight game after missing a few games with a groin injury. Harris went 1-4 today, with one run batted in. 

- Hamburger now has seven wins on the season, which leads the American Association.