Saints salvage a win against Wingnuts
The easiest way, typically, to erase a large early deficit is to use the remaining time to make small dents in it.
The Wingnuts took that route, whether willingly or not, when they scored two runs in the first inning after St. Paul scored six.
Chipping away, though, only works when the opponent limits its further scoring. St. Paul didn’t do that, keeping the Wingnuts constantly out of reach in an 11-8 win on Wednesday night at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.
The Saints salvaged the final game of a three-game series between American Association first place teams even though the Wingnuts twice cut the deficit to a run. A pair of two-run home runs by Willie Argo deflated Wichita’s comeback hopes and the Wingnuts failed to score over the final three innings.
“They killed us with the long ball tonight,” Wingnuts manager Kevin Hooper said. “That’s what good teams are going to do – we kept creeping and creeping and getting so close, and they’d hit a two-run bomb to extend the gap. But we battled until the end.”
The Wingnuts suddenly have a lineup that can compete with St. Paul’s arsenal of power hitters, which may benefit Wichita if the teams meet in the postseason. On Wednesday, the Wingnuts brought back outfielder Brent Clevlen, who had two previous stints in Wichita before spending this season with the Mexican League.
The Wingnuts also recently added leadoff man Nick Van Stratten who, like Clevlen, posted outstanding numbers in Mexico. Wichita has also had the services of former major-league infielder Andy LaRoche, whose home run in the first inning on Wednesday gave him three in two games.
“They’ve got a good team,” Wichita outfielder Harrison Kain said of St. Paul. “But I think that we’re better. You look at our lineup up and down, every single guy is a tough out, and that’s how it’s going to be in the playoffs or else they wouldn’t be there. (Teams) wouldn’t be in the playoffs if they didn’t have guys that could get it done in every single part of the lineup.”
St. Paul’s six-run first was true to the Saints’ style. After two singles and a walk loaded the bases, Ian Gac cleared them with a three-run double followed by a long two-run homer by Ryan Lashley.
No. 9 hitter Sam Maus added an RBI double in the first before a pair of doubles put St. Paul ahead 7-2 and gave the Saints five extra-base hits against Wingnuts starter Jason Van Skike through two innings.
“We pitch at all tonight, we win,” Hooper said.
Formerly an offense reliant upon singles, walks and the occasional gap double, the Wingnuts are able to respond to heavy offense with loudness of their own. The first of Kain’s four hits was a solo home run in the second, and David Espinosa’s two-RBI double highlighted theWingnuts’ three-run sixth.
Those runs were in response to Argo’s first home run, a two-run shot on an 0-2 pitch against Scott Kuzminsky. The Wingnuts had no answer to Argo’s second homer in the eighth, managing a pair of walks over the final two innings.
The Wingnuts have another postseason barometer as they travel for a four-game series against Sioux City, which owns the best record in the league at 67-22 and is on pace to break Wichita’s record 73 wins from its championship season last year.
“Obviously (winning the series) gives us a lot more confidence,” Kain said. “It’s good to see the competition that we’re getting ready to see when the playoffs come.”
St. Paul | Wichita | ||||||||
ab | r | h | bi | ab | r | h | bi | ||
Harris cf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | VStratten cf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Argo lf | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | Espinosa 2b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
DiFazio c | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | Clevlen dh | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Songco rf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | LaRoche 1b | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Gac dh | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | Mttlstdt 3b | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Lashley 3b | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Nester c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Hanson 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dean ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Phillips ss | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | Kain lf | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
Maus 2b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Oldham rf | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Vargas ss | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||||
Totals | 39 | 11 | 12 | 11 | Totals | 37 | 8 | 12 | 8 |
St. Paul | 610 | 002 | 020 | — | 11 12 1 |
Wichita | 210 | 113 | 000 | — | 8 12 0 |
E — Harris (6). LOB — St. Paul 4, Wichita 8. 2B — DiFazio (18), Gac 2 (24), Phillips (10), Maus (2), Espinosa (15), Kain (10). HR —Argo 2 (12), Lashley (4), LaRoche (5), Kain (6). SF —LaRoche (2).
St. Paul | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
Coe W,10-3 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 |
Chavez | 1/3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Zouzalik | 2 2/3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Rodebaugh S,23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Wichita | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
Van Skike L,7-6 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 5 |
Kuzminsky | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Nazario | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Mosebach | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
Orosey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
WP — Chavez (9), Zouzalik (4). PB — DiFazio. Umpires — home, Mike Jarboe; first, Matt Herrerra; third, Mike Campbell. T — 3:09. A — 2,017.
This story was originally published August 26, 2015 at 11:14 PM with the headline "Saints salvage a win against Wingnuts."