Mud Hens hold off Saints for fourth straight victory

TOLEDO – Andrew Navigato ripped an RBI double in the second inning, Ben Serven singled in a run and Akil Baddoo plated Toledo's third run with a sacrifice fly. That was all the scoring for the Toledo Mud Hens Friday at Fifth Third Field, but it proved enough as they edged the St. Paul Saints, 3-2. It was the Mud Hens' f fourth straight win over the Saints, as they improved to 56-50. Toledo used five pitchers. Bailey Horn pitched the fourth and fifth in relief, yielding one run on three hits to pick up the win. Luke Keaschall – who is on a rehab assignment for the Minnesota Twins – hit an RBI infield single in the fifth to put the Saints on the board. St. Paul's best chance to tie or take the lead came in the eighth. Trailing 3-1, Mud Hens reliever Drew Sommers hit the Saints' Will Holland and walked Keaschall to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Sommers retired Payton Eeles on a fly out, but then Holland and Keaschall executed a double steal. Kyler Fedko plated Holland on an infield hit to make it 3-2, and the Saints had runners on the corners with one out. Toledo manager Gabe Alvarez brought in another reliever, Matt Seelinger. Seelinger, a right hander with an earned run average under 2, faced the Saints Gabriel Gonzalez. Gonzalez, a 21-year-old outfielder acquired by the Twins from the Mariners in 2023 in the Jorge Polanco deal, came into the game with nine homers and a batting average better than .330 for the Saints. Seelinger got him to ground to Toledo third baseman Jace Jung, who went around the horn for an inning-ending double play. The Saints put a runner on in the ninth, but Seelinger struck out Jose Miranda, Anthony Prato and Patrick Winkel close the door. Seelinger recorded his third save. The Saints fell to 46-58. Their starting pitcher, John Stankiewicz, took the loss. He went just 1 1/3 innings and didn't allow a hit, but walked four and was charged with two runs. The Mud Hens and Saints will be back in action tonight at Fifth Third Field, with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch. The teams will play at 4:05 p.m. Sunday.