ST. PAUL, MINN. – A pair of hits from Gavin Cross wasn’t enough for the Omaha Storm Chasers (23-25) who fell 9-5 to the St. Paul Saints (25-23) on Friday night. Cross went 2-for-4 with a triple, but the rest of the Storm Chasers combined for just 2 hits.
Brett Squires opened the scoring with a 2-run double in the top of the 1st inning, and Abraham Toro made it a 3-0 game with an RBI grounder.
Omaha starter Aaron Sanchez threw 40 pitches in the 1st inning, allowing a pair of runs to score on RBI singles to cut the lead to 3-2.
Sanchez didn’t return for the 2nd inning, with Ethan Bosacker taking his spot but allowing the game-tying run to score on a groundout in the bottom of the 2nd.
In the top of the 3rd inning, Cross connected on a go-ahead 2-run triple to put Omaha back in front 5-3, but an RBI double and single from the Saints in the bottom half of the 3rd tied the game back up 5-5.
Bosacker fired a scoreless 4th inning, then Mason Black (0-1) did the same in the 5th inning.
Black returned for the bottom of the 6th inning, but put runners on the corners with two outs before Andrew Pérez took over. Pérez allowed both inherited runners to score on bases-loaded walks before Anthony Gose finished the inning with Omaha trailing 7-5.
Gose allowed a 2-run home run in the 7th inning to extend St. Paul’s lead to 9-5, and while Beck Way worked a scoreless 8th inning, Omaha couldn’t manage another run.
The Storm Chasers come back to CHS Field for the fifth game of the series on Saturday and have a chance to clinch the series win over the Saints. Omaha has MLB rehabber Cole Ragans scheduled to start in St. Paul and first pitch is set for 6:37 P.M. CT.