ST. PAUL, Minn. — The St. Paul Saints (21-21) overcame a five-run deficit and went on to trounce the Saltdogs (17-27) 13-6 in front of 7,163 fans at Midway Stadium Tuesday night.
The Saints were trailing 6-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth, and scored the game’s final 12 runs to run away with the series opener.
St. Paul scored four in the sixth, highlighted by a Willie Cabrera three-run homer. Then tied it in the seventh before notching seven runs on six hits with two Saltdogs errors in the eighth.
Dustin Klabunde (2-0) pitched 2/3 of an inning, striking out one to pick up the win. Brandon Cooney (1-2) allowed seven runs – five earned – on five hits in relief to take the loss.
Tommy Palica struck out a club season-best 11 in 5 1/3 innings.
Before the series opener, the Saltdogs and Saints finished the suspended game from June 20th, which St. Paul went on to win 12-3.
The teams meet again Wednesday afternoon at 3:05 p.m. for game two of the four-game set. Radio coverage begins at 2:35 p.m. on KFOR 1240.