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The RailRiders were welcomed to the Twin Cities on Tuesday with a first-inning grand slam by St. Paul. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre never recovered and dropped the opening game of a two-week road trip 6-0 to the Saints.
A walk and two singles put starter Randy Vasquez in a jam right away in the bottom of the first with one out. He then fell behind 2-0 to Mark Contreras, who promptly deposited the next pitch over the fence in right for a 4-0 lead that held up the rest of the way.
Contreras finished with five RBI as he and Alex Kirilloff each added an RBI single in the fifth to go up 6-0.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre managed seven hits against St. Paul, with Andres Chaparro collecting two of them, including a double.
That was the RailRiders’ lone extra-base hit of the night, as they didn’t get a runner past second base until a promising ninth inning.
The ninth opened with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre loading the bases with no outs as Chaparro’s double was followed by a Billy McKinney single and a walk by Jamie Westbrook.
But Saints reliever Brock Stewart took firm command from there, striking out Jose Godoy and Mickey Gasper on three pitches apiece. He then got Wilmer Difo to ground out to second on the first pitch to end the game and preserve the shutout.
St. Paul’s Bailey Ober pitched five innings of three-hit ball for the win, striking out six.
Vasquez took the loss and stuck around until running into trouble in the fifth inning. He struck out seven and walked three while allowing five hits.
The bullpen didn’t allow a run over the final three innings between Aaron McGarity, Barrett Loseke and D.J. Snelten.