ST. PAUL, MN (July 4, 2026) - It was the pitching matchup no one expected in March. Bailey Ober for the Saints, on Major League rehab, against his former teammate from the beginning of the season, Simeon Woods Richardson getting the start for the Buffalo Bisons. The Saints blasted three homers off Woods Richardson, including one from Major League rehabber Ryan Jeffers, and Ober looked strong as the Saints won a six inning rain shortened game, 6-5 on Saturday night at CHS Field in front of 8,538.
Jeffers greeted his former battery mate with a solo blast to left in the first inning, his first on Major League rehab, putting the Saints up 1-0.
After retiring the side in order in the first, Ober gave up an unearned run in the second. Charles McAdoo began the second for the Bisons with a single to left. With one out he stole second and took third on the throwing error by Jeffers. A Davis Schneider single to left knocked in McAdoo tying the game at one.
The Saints grabbed the lead back in the bottom of the inning as Orlando Arcia led off with a walk, took second on a single to right by Hendry Mendez, and scored on a two-out ground rule double from Ben Ross making it 2-1.
The power came out in the bottom of the third for the Saints as they hit back-to-back blasts. Jeffers led off the inning with a double off the wall in right and Walker Jenkins followed with a walk. Jeffers finished his second Major League rehab game 2-3 with a double, home run, RBI, and two runs scored. Matt Wallner then drilled a slider over the right field wall for a three-run blast, his 14th of the season, increasing the Saints lead to 5-1. Wallner went 2-4 with a home run, three RBI, and a run scored. On the very next pitch Arcia drilled a solo shot over the left-center field wall, his 11th of the season, giving the Saints a 6-1 lead. The Saints tagged Woods Richardson for six runs on eight hits in 3.0 innings while he walked two and struck out six.
Ober retired seven in a row going into the fifth, but ran into some trouble in his final inning. Back-to-back singles by Willie MacIver and Davis Schneider to start the fifth put runners at first and second. With one out Carlos Mendoza ripped an RBI double into right-center getting the Bisons to within 6-2. Rafael Lantigua made it 6-3 with an RBI single to left-center. Ismael Munguia finished off the scoring in the inning with a sacrifice fly cutting the Saints lead to 6-4. Ober went 5.0 innings allowing four runs on six hits while striking out five. He threw 76 pitches, 50 for strikes. He threw six different pitches, including his fastball 19 times averaging 88.0 mph.
Alejandro Hidalgo took over for the Saints in the sixth and wound up saving the game in a huge way without even knowing it. Hidalgo got a little unlucky when Jay Harry led off the inning by hitting a chopper to first that ricocheted off the first base bag into right field for a leadoff double. Hidalgo then hit McAdoo before back-to-back walks to MacIver and Schneider, the latter forcing in a run, narrowing the Saints lead to 6-5. From there, Hidalgo settled down and got a foul out to third and back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning. Stranding the bases loaded proved huge because after the Saints batted in the bottom of the sixth the rains came and finished off the game after six innings.
The same two teams meet in the finale of the six-game series on Sunday afternoon at CHS Field at 2:07 p.m. The Saints send RHP Ty Langenberg (3-2, 4.18) against Bisons RHP Jake Bloss (0-3, 14.29). The game can be seen on the CW Twin Cities, MLB.TV, MLB+, and the Bally Sports Live app, and heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.