Dobnak Can't Snap Out Of Recent Funk As WooSox Beat the Saints 11-2

St. Paul – The St. Paul Saints welcomed the Worcester Red Sox to CHS Field for their first-ever matchup on Tuesday night. The WooSox and umpire crew gave the Saints a few gifts early in this one from the WooSox and the umpire crew, but it wouldn’t be enough on a night where they had bad pitching and were lackluster at the plate.

Losing a game 11-2 is never easy, but Tuesday night’s loss marked an International League-leading 14th loss on the year, where the Saints have lost a game allowing 10 or more runs. That brought St. Paul’s team ERA to 5.39 on the season, the second-worst in the International League.

“Sometimes you’re going to be whacked, sometimes you’re going to be good,” said Saints manager Toby Gardenhire. “Tomorrow’s a new day, it’s a quick turnaround, we have a 1 o’clock game, so we’re just going to come out here and try to bounce back and do things different.”

The Saints had Randy Dobnak on the mound, and he continues to give up multiple runs in his outings. In his eight outings dating back to June 8, he’s only had two where he hasn’t allowed a run, totaling 30 in 29 innings pitched. Tuesday’s start was one of the worst for him on the season. He had six runs allowed on five hits, including two two-run homers, and three walks.

Walks have haunted Dobnak in his poor outings. Two of his three walks on Tuesday came ahead of the two home runs he allowed. It marked the fifth time this season he’s allowed three or more walks in an outing. He made some mistakes off-speed, but Dobnak has had the most trouble with his fastball recently.

“There’s so many things I’ve been working on, like literally day-to-day,” said Dobnak. “So that when I go out there, sometimes I’m thinking too much about mechanical stuff. Whether it’s keep my weight back, land a little bit open, get out in front of the ball, trying to be perfect, so on and so forth. There’s a lot going on.”

Worcester got on the board first. Young star Kristian Campbell drew a two-out walk against Dobnak, which was followed up by a two-run home run from The Password, Jhostynxon Garcia, to put the WooSox up 2-0.

So how were the Saints able to respond to those runs? A bit of bad luck from Nate Eaton, their right fielder.

Center fielder Austin Martin was up second for the Saints and hit a ball that landed firmly into Eaton’s glove on a sliding play. But first base umpire Evin Johnson ruled it a hit, believing it had bounced in there, making it the Saints' first gift of the night.

Two batters later, right fielder Carson McCusker crushed a ball to the right field corner. This time, Eaton had no firm grasp on it, dropping the ball out of his glove and gifting McCusker a free pass to second base and allowing Martin to score to make it 2-1.

That was where the highlights ended for St. Paul. Rehabbing second baseman Luke Keaschall was 1-for-4 in his fourth rehab game, but the bad pitching performances and lack of offense put the Saints at 11-11 in the second half of the Triple-A season.

Playoffs still a possibility

They still have a chance to turn things around and make it to the Triple-A playoffs for the first time since becoming the Twins' affiliate, but they would have to have the best record in the league for the second half of the season. They sit six and a half games back of the International League-leading Scranton Wilkes Barre Rail Riders, with 53 games left to go.

To the casual Triple-A fan, the playoffs are an afterthought. However, for the players riding most of the season out at this level, it’s crucial to get the wins where you can and avoid blowout losses, especially with only four playoff spots open to grab.

“Sometimes you’re going to get blown out,” Gardenhire said. “The best teams in baseball get blown out. The key is, can you come back and do things different the next day, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

“I think overall we just need to keep doing our thing,” said Dobnak. “Pitchers need to keep throwing well, hitters need to have some better at-bats. Maybe some better luck here and there on both sides of the ball, but looking forward to keep pushing toward the playoffs.”