Let the record show that at 9:22 on Friday night, the St. Paul Saints and the Scranton/Wilkes Barre RailRiders experienced a snow delay at CHS Field.
The game began with light flurries that disappeared for most of the evening. But with the teams tied 7-7 after nine innings, the snow returned, and was heavy enough to make it unsafe to play due to limited visibility. The delay lasted only three minutes, but added another element to what’s been a frigid homestand.
Saints outfielder Kyle Garlick emerged as the hero, hitting a three-run home run in the 11th inning for a comeback 10-9 victory.
Garlick was sporting a wide grin after the game, but also a butterfly bandage on his forehead. The latter was the result of acting out his frustrations from an earlier at-bat and causing some self-inflicted damage.
The snow delay, the gouge to the head and the walk-off homer made for a night he won’t soon forget.
“I was just trying to put a good at-bat together,” Garlick said of the game-winner. “I was carrying some of my previous at-bats with me. Give them credit, they were throwing some good pitches. In the last at-bat, (the pitcher) lost one over the middle of the plate and I just went for it.”
Ironically, the night otherwise belonged to Saints outfielder Matt Wallner, who, like Garlick, is trying to win a permanent job with the Twins.
Wallner hit a grand slam in the second inning, a tape-measure shot to right field. He reached base four times, adding a walk, an infield single and a double off the right-field wall, raising his batting average to .324.
The Forest Lake native, drafted by the Twins in the first round of the 2019 draft, spent a week with the Twins earlier this month and went hitless in eight at-bats. Garlick also has already had a stint with the Twins this season. And then there’s Alex Kirilloff, who is with the Saints on a rehab assignment.
“Give the Twins organization credit for getting all these great players,” Garlick said. “You look at the big-league roster and you say, ‘Wow, this is a team that potentially can go deep into the playoffs.’ I think what we have to do is to just keep doing our thing down here.
“Stay ready, stay health and keep getting our at-bats in. And just be ready when our names are called, whether it’s tomorrow or in a couple months. You just have to stay positive with the whole situation. There are a lot of unknowns in this game, and that’s one of them.”
Briefly
Saints shortstop Elliot Soto was hit by a pitch in the second inning, with the ball glancing off his helmet and hitting him in the mouth. Soto left the game bleeding but did not receive any stitches. … Second baseman Edouard Julien, returned to the Saints by the Twins on Friday, was in the starting lineup and went 0 for 4 with a pair of walks batting in the leadoff spot.
