Saints waste chances again, fall 3-2 to leave runners stranded

The Saints are losing the same way twice in a row: they keep the game within reach, keep traffic on the bases, and still cannot land the swing that changes everything. On Sunday at CHS Field, St. Paul put the leadoff man on in six of the first seven innings, loaded the bases with nobody out in the sixth, and still walked away with a 3-2 loss to Columbus after going just 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and leaving 10 men on base.

The margin was razor-thin, but the pattern was not. One day after an 11-7 loss to the Clippers in which the Saints went 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position, St. Paul again spent most of the afternoon one hit away from taking control. Hendry Mendez gave the Saints a 2-1 lead with an RBI single in the fifth, and the lineup had another opening to separate in the sixth. Instead, the inning slipped away, and the club never made up for it in front of 4,424 fans with a 14 mph wind blowing in from center field.

The pitching staff did enough to win for most of the day. Taj Bradley opened for St. Paul and allowed one run in 1.2 innings on 42 pitches before handing it over. Raul Brito followed with 2.1 scoreless, hitless innings, and John Klein added 3.0 more hitless, shutout frames to keep Columbus quiet into the late innings. That work gave the Saints every chance to escape with a series win, but Grant Hartwig could not protect the edge in the eighth.

Hartwig gave up two runs in the frame, including a solo homer by Cooper Ingle that tied the game at 2-2. Columbus came into the game having scored 78 runs in the eighth inning, the most in the International League and 19 more than the next team, and the Clippers showed why they have been so dangerous late. The eighth became the difference, and Hartwig took the loss.

The defeat dropped St. Paul to 23-21 and cut into the momentum built by Friday’s doubleheader sweep, when the Saints beat Columbus 5-3 in Game 2 and climbed to a season-high four games over .500 at 23-19. Two straight close losses have now turned that cushion into a reminder that the Saints can pitch with anyone, but until the middle of the order delivers in high-leverage spots, close games will keep slipping away.