DES MOINES, IA (July 7, 2026) - Not many St. Paul Saints starters have completed 5.0 innings this season. It has only happened 20% of the time and not once by John Klein, who has often been on the four inning, 75 pitch program. On Tuesday night at Principal Park, he completed the fifth inning for the first time this season, the offense put up all the runs in the first three innings, and then hung on for a 7-4 victory over the Iowa Cubs.
Klein gave a glimpse of how the night would go when he gave up a leadoff double to Brett Bateman in the first, but stranded him at third.
Walks helped the Saints score three runs in the second inning to grab the lead. Aaron Sabato and Orlando Arcia led off with back-to-back walks. A wild pitch moved the runners up and with one out Kala’i Rosario reached on a tapper in front of the plate to load the bases. Cody Morissette’s sacrifice fly gave the Saints a 1-0 lead. Ben Ross then doubled off the wall in center plating two, increasing the lead to 3-0.
Ryan Jeffers got a four-run third inning started with a solo blast to left, his second on Major League rehab, putting the Saints up 4-0. Jeffers went 1-2 with a home run, RBI, and a run scored in playing seven innings. With one out Sabato walked, moved to second on a Arcia single to right, and scored on a single to left-center by Gabby Gonzalez making it 5-0. Rosario gave the Saints a 6-0 lead with a single off the wall in left. After a walk to Cody Morissette put runners at first and second, the runners pulled off a double steal and Rosario scored when the throw down to second went into center, increasing the lead to 7-0.
Klein retired eight in a row at one point before Bateman singled off him in the third. The lone run he gave up was an unearned one in the fourth. Moises Ballesteros doubled off the wall in right-center and with two outs scored on a fielding error by Ross at short when the ball caromed in and out of his glove and wound up in shallow right field, cutting the lead to 7-1. Klein went 5.0 innings allowing one unearned run on four hits while walking one and striking out four.
Cole Sands made his second Major League rehab appearance for the Saints, and first since June 2. He pitched a perfect sixth inning getting two fly outs and a line out on 12 pitches, nine for strikes.
In the bottom of the eighth the I-Cubs put some stress on Saints pitchers. Bateman led off with a walk and with one out a pitching change brought in Grant Hartwig. He got the first hitter on a groundout to first that moved Bateman to second. Jonathon Long then doubled off the base of the wall in left scoring Bateman making it 7-2. Owen Miller lined a single off the back of Hartwig and then James Triantos walked loading the bases. Taylor Rashi then took over for Hartwig and got a huge strikeout of Ben Cowles to end the threat.
That strikeout proved huge because in the bottom of the ninth the I-Cubs made some noise. With two outs and nobody on Bateman reached on an infield single to second and that was followed by a two-run homer to right-center by BJ Murray, his 12th of the season, cutting the Saints lead to 7-3. Ballesteros then doubled to left. With the tying run in the on deck circle, Long hit a 106.4 mph groundball to the left of Ross at short, who dove, made the play, and fired to first ending the game.
The same two teams meet in game two of a six-game series on Wednesday afternoon at 12:08 p.m. at Principal Park. The Saints send LHP Aaron Rozek (4-1, 2.97) to the mound against I-Cubs RHP Andrew Wantz (3-0, 6.41). The game can be heard on KFAN Plus, 96.7 FM.