By Scott Lemon

The Sioux Falls Canaries couldn’t find the big hit on Tuesday night and were shut out by the St. Paul Saints 5-0 in front of 7,990 spectators at CHS Field.

Starter Kris Regas (3-3, 6.13 ERA) struggled to open the ballgame. Tanner Vavra hit a one-out single, then advanced to third on an Angelo Songco single. Alonzo Harris hit a moonshot homer to open the scoring at 3-0. Tony Thomas and Nate Hanson kept the hit parade going with back-to-back singles with still only one away. Willie Argo drove in Thomas from second with a single of his own to score the fourth run of the game and push the Saints’ lead to 4-0.

The second inning was a similar story. Breland Almadova and Vavra were retired in order to start the inning. However, another hit parade in the second resulted in another run scored for the Saints. Songco hit a two-out single, followed by a Harris single. Thomas walked to load the bases with two away, and Hanson also walked to score Songco from third for the fifth run of the day for the Saints.

After the second, both pitching staffs locked in. Regas tossed 4.2 innings, giving up five runs on ten hits, with most of the damage coming in the first couple innings. St. Paul starter John Straka (7-2, 5.17 ERA) looked very good through seven innings, allowing no runs and only giving up five hits and struck out six.

The Birds left ten men on base on the night, including five who were left in scoring position. In the fifth, the Birds had runners at the corners with one away, but a strikeout and a pop out ended the threat. In the sixth, Jake Taylor got to third with two out, but another pop out ended the inning. Cameron Monger hit a one-out double in the seventh, but was stranded there after another strikeout and pop out. The Birds got runners to first and second with two away in the eighth, but again were turned away. The Canaries again got runners in scoring position in the ninth, but couldn’t find the big hit to bring any runs home.

Shawn Blackwell (5-3, 6.63 ERA) takes the mound for the Canaries on Wednesday, just a few days removed from a scary incident where he was hit in the forehead by a line drive on Friday night. First pitch on Wednesday is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. The Canaries continue their week-long road trip in St. Paul and travel to Wichita for the weekend before returning to The Birdcage on Tuesday night. Contact the Canaries ticket office for information regarding single game or season ticket options by calling 605-336-6060 or visit the website at www.sfcanaries.com for more information.

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