ST. PAUL, MN (July 22, 2026) - Five pitchers combined on a two-hit shutout and five different hitters clobbered a home run as the St. Paul Saints drilled the Columbus Clippers 9-0 on Wednesday afternoon at CHS Field in front of 8,415.
Starting pitcher Aaron Rozek set the tone. In the first inning after Angel Genao reached on a throwing error by shortstop Ben Ross, Juan Brito singled to left-center. That was the last hit for the Clippers until the seventh. Rozek went 4.0 shutout innings allowing one hit, while walking one and striking out four.
After watching the Clippers hit four home runs on Tuesday night, the Saints hit four home runs in the first two innings on Wednesday. Kyler Fedko got it started in the first with a solo homer to right, his 17th of the season, putting the Saints up 1-0.
With two outs and nobody on in the second the Saints blitzed Clippers starter Rorik Maltrud. Hendry Mendez singled to center and Ben Ross crushed a two-run homer to center, his ninth of the season, increasing the lead to 3-0. On the very next pitch, David Bañuelos hammered a solo shot to left, his fourth of the season, pushing the lead to 4-0. It was the sixth time this season the Saints had gone back-to-back. Walker Jenkins then singled to right and Fedko walked. Matt Wallner unloaded on a three-run blast to right, his 16th of the season, giving the Saints a 7-0 lead. It was the second time this season, and ninth in franchise history, that the Saints homered three times in an inning.
Major League rehabber Garrett Acton made his first appearance with the Saints and he worked quickly. He retired all six hitters he faced across 2.0 innings while striking out two. He threw 22 pitches, 15 for strikes. He threw 17 fastballs that averaged 94.8 mph and topped out at 96.4 mph. He got four swings and misses on 12 swings.
Hendry Mendez got into the home run act in the fifth. Tristan Gray led off with a walk and with one out Mendez ripped a two-run homer to right, his fifth of the season, upping the lead to 9-0. Mendez finished the day 3-4 with a home run, two RBI, and two runs scored. The bottom three hitters in the lineup, Mendez, Ross, and Bañuelos, went 7-12 with three homers, five RBI, and four runs scored.
Julian Merryweather made his Saints debut, after spending the entire season on the injured list with a hamstring injury, in the seventh. He gave up a one out single to Kody Huff, but quickly erased that by getting Alfonsin Rosario to ground into an inning ending double play. Merryweather went 1.0 shutout inning allowing one hit.
Alejandro Hidalgo, a perfect eighth, and Eric Orze, a perfect ninth with one strikeout, finished off the game as Saints pitchers retired 22 of the final 23 hitters they faced.
The shutout was the seventh of the season for the Saints, second most in franchise history behind the eight they threw in their first season as a Triple-A affiliate in 2021. The two hits were tied for the fewest hits allowed by the Saints at CHS Field, the fifth time they’ve accomplished that feat.
The same two teams meet in game three of a six-game series on Thursday night at CHS Field at 7:07 p.m. The Saints send RHP Ricky Castro (2-1, 4.13) to the mound against Clippers RHP Austin Peterson (0-8, 5.22). The game can be seen on the Saints Broadcast Network, cable access channels in and around the Twin Cities area, MLB.TV, MiLB.com, and the Bally Sports Live app, and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM, all presented by Northland Ford Dealers.