ST. PAUL, MN (July 25, 2026) - It’s only season one at the helm in St. Paul for manager Brian Dinkelman, but season seven in the Minnesota Twins organization. He piled up 367 wins at High-A Cedar Rapids, 76 at Double-A Wichita, and on Saturday night he earned his 57th win on the season for the Saints, the 500th of his career. The win was led by the pitching staff as they struck out a season-high 16 while also getting two solo home runs in a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Clippers at CHS Field in front of 7,098.
On a bullpen day, five different pitchers allowed just three hits while striking out at least one hitter in every inning and mowing down eight of the nine hitters, with only #29 rated prospect Juan Brito not going down on strikes.
The night started with Trent Baker who fanned two in the first, one in the second, and all three outs in the third. The lone run came from a Kody Huff leadoff homer to right-center in the third, his 14th of the season, making it 1-0. Baker went 3.0 innings allowing one run on two hits while striking out six.
Matt Bowman took over in the fourth and he was masterful going 2.0 hitless, shutout innings while walking two and striking out five. That tied his career-high for most strikeouts out of relief.
After the Saints were baffled for 5.1 innings against Clippers starter Yorman Gómez, the very first hitter new pitcher Jake Miller faced was Matt Wallner. He greeted him with a solo blast to right, his 17th of the season, knotting the game at one.
The sixth and seventh were left up to Alejandro Hidalgo for the Saints and he was perfect while striking out three.
Cody Morissette provided the only other offense in the game, a solo blast to right in the seventh, his eighth of the season, and seventh with the Saints, as it proved to be the difference putting the Saints up 2-1.
Julian Merryweather pitched a scoreless eighth, allowing one hit, while walking one, and striking out one. The big play in the game came when Merryweather walked the leadoff hitter Huff, but he was erased trying to steal second.
Raul Brito picked up his fourth save of the season by throwing a perfect ninth and striking out one.
The 16 strikeouts were tied for the second most in franchise history in a nine-inning game. The last time the Saints struck out 16 was September 11, 2025 against Columbus.
The same two teams meet in the finale of a six-game series on Sunday afternoon at 2:07 p.m. at CHS Field. The Saints send LHP Aaron Rozek (2-1, 3.12) to the mound against Clippers RHP Trenton Denholm (9-3, 4.26). The game can be seen on the CW Twin Cities, MLB.TV, MiLB.com, and the Bally Sports Live app, and heard on KFAN Plus, all presented by Northland Ford Dealers.