St. PAUL, MN – The Lincoln Saltdogs managed a season-low two hits in a 3-1 loss to the St. Paul Saints on Saturday night at CHS Field.
Lincoln’s (26-21) Christian Ibarra launched a solo home run to start the game but that is all the offense the Satldogs mustered against Saints (25-22) starter Chris Nunn. The left-hander went six innings and gave up just one run on two hits. He struck out five batters and did not issue a walk in his second start as a Saint.
Mike Tamburino picked up the loss despite posting his team-best sixth quality start. The right-hander went seven innings and gave up three runs on six hits. He struck out seven batters and tied his season-high in innings pitched. The New Yorker has surrendered six home runs over his last three starts, all of them losses.
St. Paul answered Lincoln’s early run with a score in the second inning. Justin O’Conner doubled off the left field wall with one out. After a two-out walk, Anthony Phillips looped a base hit to left field to send in O’Conner and tie the game.
The Saints continued the offense in the third inning. Kyle Barrett singled to start the inning. Then, Burt Reynolds blasted a two-run homer to make it 3-1. Tamburino settled in after that, allowing just two baserunners over the next four innings.
Cortland Cox pitched a perfect eighth inning in his Saltdogs debut. Lincoln acquired the reliever in a trade on Thursday.
The Saltdogs’ previous hits low was four against the Kansas City T-Bones on June 27th. They tallied only two hits against Gary SouthShore on July 1st but it was just a seven inning game.
Lincoln tosses Kyle Kinman on Sunday to try to take the rubber match from the Saints. First pitch is at 5:05 PM with coverage beginning at 4:35 PM on ESPN 101.5 FM 1480 AM and http://www.espn1480.com/lincoln-saltdogs-baseball/.
For more information on the Saltdogs, follow the team on Facebook and Twitter/Instagram @saltdogsball. For ticket information visit https://saltdogs.com/tickets/ or call (402) 474-2255.