Chasers Lose Five-Run Lead and Drop Series to Saints

Leading 6-1 in the 5th, Omaha falls to St. Paul 10-6.

Starter Max Castillo allowed one run over six innings in a quality start for the Storm Chasers Sunday in St. Paul. (Minda Haas Kuhlmann)

By Nicholas Badders

May 28, 2023

SAINT PAUL, MINN. – While the Omaha Storm Chasers led by five runs halfway through the game, the St. Paul Saints scored six unanswered runs to claim the series, as the Chasers fell 10-6. Starter Max Castillo delivered his best performance in a Storm Chasers uniform, as the Venezuelan right-hander

SAINT PAUL, MINN. – While the Omaha Storm Chasers led by five runs halfway through the game, the St. Paul Saints scored six unanswered runs to claim the series, as the Chasers fell 10-6.

Starter Max Castillo delivered his best performance in a Storm Chasers uniform, as the Venezuelan right-hander held St. Paul to one run over 6.0 innings with four strikeouts and no walks on just 69 pitches, hiis first quality start since June 2, 2022 while pitching for Buffalo.

Castillo had just five runs of support in his first five starts, but Omaha offered him six runs of support in the series finale.

After neither team put a runner on in the first two innings, Omaha scored four runs on five hits and a walk in the third, as Clay Dungan and Nate Eaton each singled in one and Nick Loftin singled in two, at the time a 4-0 lead.

While the Saints got their lone run off Castillo in the bottom of the fifth, the Storm Chasers added two more in the fifth, as Samad Taylor doubled, stole third and scored on a throwing error, then CJ Alexander singled in Eaton, Omaha’s final run of the game.

St. Paul pitching retired 10 in a row after Alexander’s single, giving the offense a chance to claw back. The Saints stormed back as soon as Omaha’s bullpen came in, as James McArthur was the first out of the pen and could not get an out, as all five batters he faced reached base, including a grand slam from Saints designated hitter Jair Camargo.

Behind McArthur, Jackson Kowar allowed an inherited runner to score then surrendered four more of his own in the seventh inning, albeit runs that were unearned due to an Omaha error.

Despite Dylan Coleman throwing a 1-2-3 eighth inning, a nine-run seventh inning from St. Paul was far too much for Omaha to overcome.

The Chasers got a pair of singles to open the inning, from Johan Camargo and Jakson Reetz, but a pair of groundouts, including a double play, squashed any rally the team was hoping to start, the fourth double play of the game the team hit into.

Omaha returns home after an off day Monday to open a six-game series against the Memphis Redbirds on Tuesday at Werner Park.