The St. Paul Saints fell behind 7-0 on Tuesday before rallying in a 7-4 loss to the Columbus Clippers. A day later, it looked much the same as Columbus had a 2-0 lead and rehabbing starter Matthew Boyd dominated the Saints.
This time, a four-run rally would pay off. St. Paul scored four times in the eighth inning and won 4-2 behind a bullpen game from its pitchers, with six pitchers combining to cover the nine innings.
Ronny Henriquez started and allowed one run in 2 2/3 innings. He was followed by Caleb Barager for 2 1/3 innings and eventually Justin Topa, Jeff Brigham, Scott Blewett and Diego Castillo. Blewett (5-2) earned the win with a scoreless eighth and Castillo finished with his seventh save.
Topa allowed a hit and struck out two in an inning in his latest rehab appearance. Estavan Florial drove in both runs for the Clippers. He had an RBI single off Henriquez in the third and drew a bases-loaded walk from Barager in the fourth.
The Saints’ hitters needed just one inning to erase the deficit. Diego A. Castillo was hit by a pitch with one out in the eighth.
The hit batter led to a pitching change with Minnesota native Sam Hentges, from Mounds View High School, coming in. Patrick Winkel doubled off Hentges to put runners on second and third. Dalton Shuffield hit a ground ball to third but a throwing error allowed Castillo and Winkel to score and Shuffield to go to second.
Payton Eeles followed with an RBI single to chase Hentges (1-1) from the game. Kyle Farmer, also .