Saints erupt for eight-run seventh, rout Aviators 11-2 in Las Vegas

The game turned in one ruthless seventh inning. St. Paul sent 12 men to the plate and piled up eight runs to break a 2-2 tie, turning a competitive road game into an 11-2 rout of Las Vegas at Las Vegas Ballpark.

That frame was more than a crooked number. It was the Saints’ biggest inning of the season, tied for the fourth-highest scoring inning in franchise history, and their most runs in an inning since they scored nine against Omaha on May 28, 2023. By the time the dust settled, St. Paul had its fourth straight win, climbed back to .500 at 17-17 and handed the Pacific Coast League West-leading Aviators a lopsided loss in Summerlin, Nevada.

The power surge started early. Orlando Arcia opened the second with his sixth homer of the season and stretched his hitting streak to 10 games. Ben Ross followed with his second homer of the year in the third, and the Saints answered immediately after Henry Bolte tied the game with an eighth homer, a two-run shot in the bottom of the third. St. Paul reclaimed the lead in the fourth when Hendry Mendez walked, Alex Jackson was hit by a pitch and Aaron Sabato drove in the go-ahead run with a single. Sabato later added a solo homer in the seventh, his sixth of the season, and the Saints finished the night with 62 home runs, the most in baseball at that point. They also led off an inning with a home run for the 18th time, another major-league-leading mark.

The pitching backed up the offense once St. Paul grabbed control. Mike Paredes worked four innings and allowed two runs on five hits with two strikeouts before Travis Adams tossed a perfect fifth with a strikeout. Marco Raya handled the final two innings, allowing one hit while striking out two, and John Brebbia and Drew Smith each threw a clean inning in relief. Saints pitchers retired 18 of the final 19 Las Vegas hitters, a sharp finish that kept the seventh inning from needing any insurance.

The backdrop made the statement even louder. St. Paul had already beaten Las Vegas 15-7 the night before, when Sabato went 4-for-5 with three homers, a double and seven RBI, so the Saints outscored the Aviators 26-9 across the first two games of the series. For a club making its first road trip into a Pacific Coast League ballpark, it looked less like a novelty and more like a warning.