Paredes deals, but Omaha tops St. Paul in Education Day win

Mike Paredes did enough to make his case, but the Saints could not turn it into a win. The 25-year-old right-hander worked four innings, allowed two hits, walked two and struck out six Tuesday as Omaha beat St. Paul 5-3 in an Education Day game at CHS Field.

The loss came in front of 6,591 fans and capped Education Day No. 2 for the Saints, a promotion presented by Hamline University. It also continued a stretch in which Paredes has looked far more like a pitcher settling into Triple-A than one trying to survive it. Excluding his first outing at the level on April 21, he entered the day with a 1.47 ERA over his previous five appearances. The Twins drafted the San Diego native in the 18th round in 2021 out of San Diego State, and he came in with a season line of 3-2 and a 5.05 ERA in 10 appearances, seven of them starts.

St. Paul had chances to reward him. Aaron Sabato tied the game with a solo homer in the second, his ninth of the season and seventh in his last 12 games, and the Saints briefly moved in front in the third after loading the bases. Ben Ross later singled home a run in the sixth to bring St. Paul even again. But the Saints went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position on the night, and that came after they had gone 4-for-29 in the same situation over their previous two games. Those missed spots told the story.

Omaha kept landing punches. Brett Squires started the scoring with a first-inning triple, then added a home run in the sixth, his fourth of the season and his third straight game with a homer after going deep on May 16 and May 17 as well. Drew Waters followed with another sixth-inning homer, and the back-to-back shots swung the game back to the Storm Chasers. Omaha regained the lead in the seventh and added insurance in the ninth while St. Paul left the tying runs in scoring position in the final inning.

The Saints have gotten enough from Paredes lately to suggest his performances are worth a longer look. What they have not gotten is enough support around those outings, and that disconnect has started to define their current form. Game two of the six-game series was set for Wednesday night at 6:37 p.m. CDT, with Aaron Rozek slated to start for St. Paul against Omaha right-hander Shane Panzini.