ST. PAUL, MN – Kyle Kinman tossed six strong innings and the bottom part of the order produced seven hits to carry the Lincoln Saltdogs to a 6-3 rubber match win over the St. Paul Saints on Sunday night.
The Saltdogs (27-21) won their first road series since June 11-14 at Texas – breaking a streak of three-straight road series losses. Kyle Kinman earned the win after allowing two runs on three hits over six innings. The Omaha native notched his third quality start in five tries. Jose Jose earned his second save of the series by tossing a scoreless ninth inning.
Matt Solter started strong but took the loss for the Saints (25-23). Lincoln got the offense going in the fourth inning when T.J. Bennett drew a one-out walk. Randolph Oduber collected a single next to bring up Nathaniel Maggio. The rookie smacked a double to drive Bennett home for the first run of the game. Then, Brandon Jacobs followed with a base hit to empty the bases and make it 3-0.
Each team scored in the sixth. Maggio hit a ball off the right field wall to send Oduber home. Burt Reynolds smoked his second two-run home run of the series in the bottom half to make it a two-run game.
St. Paul continued the comeback in the eighth inning against reliever Shairon Martis. Kyle Barrett registered a double and Reynolds drew a walk. The pair executed a double steal to put two runners in scoring position for Brady Shoemaker. The cleanup hitter lifted a sacrifice fly to cut it to a one-run game.
The Saltdogs grabbed insurance in the ninth. Jacobs singled and stole second base with Brant Whiting at the dish. The lefty followed through with an RBI single to stretch the lead to two runs. Then, Cesar Valera laced a triple down the left field line to complete the scoring.
The bottom four hitters in Lincoln’s lineup; Oduber, Maggio, Jacobs and Whiting, combined to go 7-16 with five RBIs and five runs scored.
The defense was strong too, as Lincoln avoided an error while St. Paul made three. The Saltdogs are 16-5 when they play error-free defense.
The Saltdogs take on the Kansas City T-Bones at Haymarket Park next. First pitch against the South Division foes is at 6:45 PM with coverage beginning at 6:15 PM on ESPN 101.5 FM 1480 AM and saltdogs.com/stream.
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.