The St. Paul Saints are still hanging around, but the runway is almost gone.
With the minor league seasons now finished for the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels, Cedar Rapids Kernels and Wichita Wind Surge, St. Paul heads into its final road series still technically in the mix for a playoff spot.
The math is steep: two Saints losses or three wins by Washington’s Triple-A club, the Rochester Red Wings, would knock St. Paul out with six games left.
The Saints do own the tiebreaker over Rochester, but they also sit behind the Indianapolis Indians in the overall race for the second-half playoff berth. Rochester closes against the Buffalo Bisons, Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate.
There were no roster moves in the Twins organization on Tuesday before the Saints opened their last series of the year against the Columbus Clippers. Elsewhere in the system, the Arizona Fall League rosters are out, and eight Twins representatives made the cut, led by Yasser Mercedes. Coverage of the Salt River Rafters and the Twins prospects begins when that season opens on October 3rd.
On the field, St. Paul dropped a tight one, 1-0, despite getting more hits than Columbus.
German Marquez delivered what may have been his sharpest outing since joining the organization. He worked five innings, allowed one earned run on three hits and three walks, and struck out three.
The lone run came in the second inning after a leadoff double, a walk, and a one-out RBI single. After that, Marquez settled in, retiring six straight before giving up his final hit in the fourth.
He finished by getting a double-play ball in the fifth, and 42 of his 71 pitches were strikes.
The Saints had chances, but never found the hit that would change the game. Cody Morissette singled and stole second in the second inning, then got stranded. In the third, Tanner Schobel and David Banuelos opened with back-to-back singles, and Matt Wallner’s two-out walk loaded the bases, only for Gabriel Gonzalez to fly out to center and end the threat.
Columbus also had a rehab arm in the mix, with Cleveland’s Shawn Armstrong throwing a clean sixth inning and striking out two. St. Paul threatened again in the seventh when Morissette singled and moved up on a passed ball, but Ben Ross and Schobel both struck out to keep the Saints off the board.
Jack Anderson did his part to keep it close after taking over in the sixth. He worked around two singles with a double-play grounder and a strikeout, then came back for the seventh and set the Clippers down in order.
He kept rolling in the eighth as well, giving St. Paul every chance to scratch across a run.
The Saints kept putting the leadoff man on. Banuelos singled to start the eighth, but Columbus third baseman made a pair of sharp plays to erase the threat, including a 5-3 double play after shifting over in a more traditional shortstop position. Aaron Sabato followed with a single that could have mattered with a runner in scoring position, and Wallner then sent a ball to the warning track in left-center, but it died at the wall.
St. Paul got one more shot in the ninth after Gabriel Gonzalez singled to open the inning. Kala’i Rosario hit a 106.6 MPH grounder that turned into a double play, and Morissette put together another solid at-bat before grounding to second on the seventh pitch to end it.
The Saints finished with seven hits to Columbus’ five, but the difference came in the one big extra-base hit of the night. Columbus cashed in its lone early chance, and St.
Paul never matched it, going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and leaving six on base. Morissette and Banuelos each had two hits, while the Saints drew only one walk and struck out 11 times.
Jack Anderson earned pitcher of the day honors with three scoreless innings of relief, while Morissette was the hitter of the day after going 2-for-4 with a strikeout and a stolen base.
Among the Twins’ top prospects, Walker Jenkins did not play, Kaelen Culpepper went 0-for-3 with a strikeout, Emmanuel Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI, and Gabriel Gonzalez finished 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
The Saints are back in action Wednesday night against Syracuse at 6:37 PM CDT, with left-hander Aaron Rozek set to start.
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