TOLEDO, OH (June 11, 2026) - The offense has received most of the headlines for the St. Paul Saints this season, but the pitching staff has done more than carry its weight since the calendar turned to June. After having ERA’s of over 5.00 in both April and May, the Saints arms have been remarkable in June. Five pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout as they lowered their team ERA in the month to 3.62. Gabby Gonzalez put the only run up on the board in the ninth as the Saints beat the Toledo Mud Hens 1-0 on Thursday night at Fifth Third Field.
Austin Voth made his second start for the Saints and was spectacular. He had traffic in four of the five innings he pitched, but never looked like he was in trouble. With the bases loaded and two outs in the second he got Detroit Tigers #1 prospect Max Clark to ground out to first to end the inning.
In the fourth, with runners at first and second and two outs, Voth retired Andrew Navigato on a fielder’s choice ground out to end the inning.
Voth threw more pitches on Thursday than he had in any game this season, 89, and may have tired in the fifth. With one out he walked Hao-Yu Lee before striking out the league’s second-best hitter, Gage Workman. The last batter Voth faced, Ben Malgeri, reached on a walk putting runners at first and second. Drew Smith took over and got Max Anderson to ground out to short ending the inning. Voth went 4.2 scoreless innings allowing three hits while walking four and striking out eight. It was the most strikeouts for Voth since he fanned nine on April 6, 2019, with Fresno against Reno.
C.J. Culpepper took over in the sixth and gave up a leadoff single to Eduardo Valencia. With one out an errant throw on a pickoff attempt moved Valencia to second and Cal Stevenson then walked. That would be the last base runner of the night for the Mud Hens as the Saints retired the final 11 hitters. Culpepper went 2.0 scoreless innings allowing one hit while walking one and striking out one.
Taylor Rashi made his Saints debut after the Minnesota Twins got him in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He fanned two of the three hitters he faced.
In the ninth, Gabby Gonzalez got the Saints the lone run they would need with a one out, solo homer to left, his 10th of the season, making it 1-0. After not homering in 25 straight games, Gonzalez has now homered in back-to-back games.
Raul Brito came on in the ninth and fanned the first two batters before getting Clark to ground out to first to end the game as he picked up his third save of the season.
It was the fourth shutout of the season, the most they’ve had since 2024 when they recorded six. It was the Saints fourth 1-0 win in Triple-A franchise history and just the second nine inning 1-0 win. The only other nine inning, 1-0 victory came on August 6, 2021 vs. Louisville.
The same two teams meet in game four of a six-game series on Friday night at Fifth Third Field at 6:05 p.m. (CT). The Saints send RHP Ty Langenberg (2-2, 6.43) to the mound against Mud Hens RHP Dylan File (4-2, 4.56). The game can be heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.