Saints lose pitchers’ duel 1-0 to Omaha on walk-off single in ninth inning
OMAHA, Neb. — C.J. Alexander’s fly-ball single to left-center field in the bottom of the ninth inning broke a scoreless tie and lifted the Omaha Storm Chasers to a 1-0 victory over the St. Paul Saints in a Class AAA baseball game Tuesday afternoon at Werner Park.
Saints relief pitcher Josh Winder gave up Alexander’s game-winning hit. It was the third time this season St. Paul, 10-6 in the second half of the season, has been walked off.
Saints starting pitcher Randy Dobnak pitched six shutout innings before calling it a day. He allowed just one hit while walking two and striking out five. He threw 80 pitches, 49 for strikes, getting 10 swings and misses to continue his hot streak of late.
St. Paul finished the day with two hits, both coming in the opening two innings. Kyle Garlick extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a single in the first, then Austin Martin doubled in the second. The only other baserunner for the Saints came on a walk to Chris Williams in the fourth, but Storm Chasers pitchers retired the final 17 Saints hitters.
Louie Varland, a former North St. Paul High School and Concordia-St. Paul star, will pitch for the Saints in Game 2 of the six-game series on Wednesday. Varland is 3-0 with a 5.17 earned-run average for St. Paul. He’ll go against Omaha right-hander Jonathan Bowlan (2-0, 3.38 ERA), starting at 7:05 p.m.
