SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Walks and home runs haunted the Sioux Falls Canaries as they fell to the St. Paul Saints 6-4 in the back-and-forth rubber game.
St. Paul (10-11) scored all of their runs by way of the homer on Sunday afternoon. Grant Kay finished the day three for four with a home run for the Birds (12-8). Mitch Ghelfi, Max Murphy and John Silviano all went deep for the Saints.
Both teams fell scoreless in the first inning before St. Paul got on the board in the bottom of the second. Josh Allen and John Silviano both reached on walks before Mitch Ghelfi hit a three-run home run to give the Saints the 3-0 lead.
Another scoreless inning in the third before Kay hit a three-run home run of his own. The homer came after a Clint Coulter single and a Logan Landon walk and tied the game at three.
The Canaries took a 4-3 lead in the fifth when an error by the Saints starter Eddie Medina allowed Andrew Ely to score.
The Saints retook the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Josh Allen reached on a two-out walk and Max Murphy deposited a ball into the right-field party deck to make the score 5-4 Saints. John Silviano then hit a solo home run to right to extend the lead to 6-4.
That is where the scoring would end. The Birds gained just one baserunner in the final three innings against the Saints bullpen.
Eddie Media earned his first win of the season for St. Paul. Ty Culbreth took his first loss of the season for Sioux Falls.
UP NEXT
After an off-day on Monday, July 27, a new opponent comes to the Birdcage. The Milwaukee Milkmen start a three-game series with the Sioux Falls Canaries on Tuesday, July 28. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Birds fans can find information on how to watch and listen at SFCanaries.com.
(Adam Bertsch, SF Canaries, contributed to this story.)
