The visiting St. Paul Saints used three home runs to fuel a 14-3 victory over the Sioux Falls Canaries Saturday, evening up the three-game series one game apiece.
Long balls by first baseman John Silviano, outfielder Sebastian Zawada (a two-run shot), and catcher Chris Chinea‘s three-run bomb accounted for six of the 14 Saints’ runs.
Starting pitcher Matt Solter backed up St. Paul’s power outburst with a 5.2-inning performance, allowing just one unearned run on three hits while striking out five. Solter retired 10 straight hitters before giving up his first hit of the game, a single to center by Alay Lago with two outs in the fourth.
Chinea went 3-5, finishing a triple shy of the cycle with four RBI and three runs scored.
Clint Coulter accounted for all of Sioux Falls’ offense, driving in three runs, including a three-run dinger in the bottom of the 8th to make the score 13-3.
The Canaries and Saints meet for the rubber game of their three-game series Sunday night at 5:05pm. Jake Zokan will pitch for Sioux Falls, while Mike Devine will take the ball for St. Paul.
— Jerry Del Priore