LINCOLN, NE – Two dominant pitching outings led to a doubleheader split between the Lincoln Saltdogs (19-14) and St. Paul Saints (19-12) at Haymarket Park on Wednesday.  The teams had to resort to playing two seven-inning games because of a rain postponement for Tuesday’s scheduled game.

GAME ONE: Saltdogs 5 Saints 4 – Box Score

Mike Tamburino tossed a complete game and notched a season-high 10 strikeouts as the Saltdogs beat the Saints 5-4 in the first leg of the doubleheader.

It didn’t start well for Tamburino.  St. Paul took advantage of two walks to score a run in the first inning on an RBI hit by Brady Shoemaker.

The weather conditions wreaked havoc on the Saltdogs in the second inning.  Second baseman Cesar Valera couldn’t track down a pop fly and started the frame with an error.  St. Paul’s Jake Smith drove in the first run with a double.  Two batters later, left fielder Brandon Jacobs lost a ball in the sun and let a run in and another runner reach.  Kyle Barrett cleaned up the situation with an RBI single to make it 4-0.

The Saltdogs started the comeback in the bottom of the second inning.  Chase Simpson worked a walk from Saints starter Dan Johnson and Angel Reyes followed with a hit.  Nathaniel Maggio drove Simpson in with a groundout to get Lincoln on the board.

The offense continued into the third inning.  Dashenko Ricardo, Christian Ibarra and Cesar Valera opened the frame with three straight singles to score a run.  Later, Curt Smith got a hit to load the bases and Simpson drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.  Angel Reyes completed the damage with an RBI single against reliever Jake Matthys to tie the game.

The Saltdogs grabbed the lead in the fourth.  Randolph Oduber started things with a hit and stole second base.  Ricardo followed with a hit and Valera sent a run in on a ground ball to make it 5-4.

Tamburino took it the rest of the way.  He allowed just three hits over the final five innings en route to the Saltdogs first complete game of the season.  The righty threw a season-high 120 pitches to record his third career complete game.

GAME TWO: Saltdogs 0 Saints 6 – Box Score

Lincoln’s offense dried up in game two.  Eddie Medina earned the complete game win for the Saints by throwing six shutout innings.  He surrendered just three hits and walked two batters.

Saltdogs starter Tyler Herron struck out the side in the first inning but ran into trouble in the second.  Brady Shoemaker started things with a single.  Then, Dante Bichette Jr. and Dan Johnson logged one-out hits to load the bases.  After a strikeout, J.J. Gould worked a full count against Herron.  The Saints hitter flew a ball just past the glove of center fielder Angel Reyes for a bases-clearing triple.

St. Paul went back to work two innings later.  Jake Smith doubled and Gould knocked him home with another hit to make it 4-0.

They tallied more runs in the fifth.  Max Murphy singled and scored on a Shoemaker hit.  Next, Bichette Jr. singled in another run to give St. Paul the six-run lead.

The Saltdogs managed a season-low three hits off Medina.  They were blanked for the second time this year.

The Saltdogs have Thursday off before welcoming the Chicago Dogs to Haymarket Park for the first time.  First pitch on Friday is at 7:05 PM with coverage beginning at 6:35 PM on ESPN 101.5 FM 1480 AM and saltdogs.com.

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.