Another night, another win in Toledo for St. Paul.
Behind six innings of four-hit, five-strikeout ball from starter Aaron Rozek and outfielder Matt Wallner’s eighth home run since being demoted by the Twins, the Saints topped Toledo 6-1 for their fourth win in a row.
Wallner’s three-run blast in the top of the third plated fellow outfielder Kyler Fedko and catcher David Banuelos to give St. Paul all the edge it needed in the heart of Ohio. The blast made him the leading home run hitter in the Triple-A Saints franchise history.
Rozek allowed the hosts just one earned run on a third-inning sacrifice fly until giving way to reliever Marco Raya in the seventh. Rozek lowered his ERA to 2.53 with his successful turn on the mound.
For good measure, the visitors tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning, scoring the trio of tallies on two fielder’s choice plays and a wild pitch. It was the first time in franchise history that the Saints scored more than two runs in an inning without managing a hit.
St. Paul scored all six runs off Mud Hens reliever Carl Edwards, Jr., a one-time top Chicago Cubs prospect who has rattled around the majors for the past decade and pitched in two games for the New York Mets earlier this year.
In all, the Saints recorded just four hits in the game despite scoring a half-dozen runs. Banuelos accounted for half of those hits on a 2 for 3 night with two runs scored. First baseman Aaron Sabato joined Wallner with one hit apiece.
The victory improved St. Paul to 38-29 on the season and clinched this week’s series at Toledo. The two teams play once more at 3:05 p.m. Sunday, with the Saints sending Ryan Gallagher (2-2, 6.82) to the mound. The Mud Hens have not announced their starter.