Wingnuts Late Rally Falls Short

ST. PAUL, MN- The Wichita Wingnuts lost 6-3 to the St. Paul Saints at Midway Stadium on Tuesday night.

St. Paul used a five-run first, with all of the runs scored with two outs, to take a commanding lead that the Wingnuts could not overcome.  With Brandon Carter on second and two outs, Jason Cooper hit a home run to right-center field to drive in the first runs of the game.  Brent Krause followed with a triple to right field and scored on Chad Gabriel's single to left.  Flint Wipke singled Gabriel to second, and both scored on Josh Petersen's double down the right field line.

The Wingnuts got on the board in the fifth.  With two outs and no one on base, Josh Horn hit a long double to center field.  Ryan Patterson drove him in with a single to short center.

Wichita scored twice against the Saints' bullpen in the eighth to pull within two runs.  Jackson Melian singled through the left side and scored two pitches later on Mario Delgado's double off the bottom of the fence in right-center.  Jeff Christy singled to third, chasing out right-hander Jonathan Plefka.  Matt Meyer came on and allowed an RBI single through the right side to Steve Pearson, cutting the Saints' lead to 5-3.

Michael Thompson popped out to catcher Flint Wipke on a sacrifice attempt for the first out.  Meyer picked up a strikeout of Rene Ruiz for the second out when first base umpire Ryan Simmons said Ruiz went around on a check swing.  After Josh Horn walked to load the bases, Ryan Patterson hit a hard line drive to left that was caught by Chad Gabriel to end the inning.

The Saints re-extended the lead in the bottom of the inning when Flint Wipke led off with a home run to left field.  Meyer went out for a second inning in the top of the ninth and struck out the side to earn a six-out save.

Luke Massetti took the loss, allowing five earned runs in seven innings.  Massetti settled down after the five-run first and finished the night with six strikeouts and one walk.  Jacob Schmidt earned the win for St. Paul, allowing one earned run in six innings on five hits.  Mario Delgado went 2 for 4, extending his hitting streak to 11 games in a row.

The series continues on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. with Sean Teague taking on left-hander Ryan Morse.  All the action can be heard locally on Oldies 93.5 KWME and worldwide at www.kleyam.com  The Wingnuts return home on Friday, July 9th when they host the Grand Prairie AirHogs.  For tickets, call the Wingnuts' office at (316) 264-NUTS.

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