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The St. Paul Saints were the first Twins Minor League affiliate to get their 2024 season started on Saturday.And while it’s still early, many former top prospects and rising names in the Twins system had one of their best Opening Days in recent memory.
TRANSACTIONS
Infielder Austin Martin recalled by the Minnesota Twins
Infielder Dalton Shuffield transferred from Double-A Wichita
SAINTS SENTINEL
St. Paul 8, Columbus 1
Box score
David Festamade the first start of the season for the Saints. He got through three shutout innings and threw 50 pitches. The first inning was a rough go-around for him as most of his pitches struggled to find the strike zone, with 11 of 18 being called balls. He got out of the jam with a pop up in foul territory caught by Jose Miranda.
The second and third frame went much better for Festa as he only allowed one walk after a bad first inning where he had two. He tallied three strikeouts in his last two innings and retired the side to end his day in the top of the third.
After the game, Saints manager Toby Gardenhire spoke on the impressive turnaround from the first inning for his young starter.
“It’s the first game of the season so you never really know,” said Gardenhire. “I’m sure Festa was a little bit nervous going out there, plus it’s cold, battling the elements a little bit. But once he got in a groove, he was really, really good.”
Alex Isola made his Triple-A debut on Saturday and was the man to push the first runs of the season on the board for the Saints in 2024. Ahead of him on the base paths were Yunior Severino and Anthony Prato, who both drew walks to start the bottom of the second. Isola saw a pitch he couldn’t resist and drilled it to left-center field, putting the Saints up 3-0 over the Clippers.
But the offense would not stop there for the Saints. They tacked a few more runners in the bottom of the fourth following a one-out walk from Isola and a single by Chris Williams. The moment was set up for Yoyner Fajardo, who made his Triple-A debut on Saturday, and he delivered with the second three-run home run of the day to make it 6-0 over the Clippers.
Following Festa’s exit from the game, Randy Dobnak came in for the Saints. Dobnak did everything the Saints could have asked for and more as he threw three perfect innings on 30 pitches, retiring three batters on strikeouts. But no pitcher does it all alone. Second baseman Anthony Prato picked up his pal in the top of the sixth catching a ball that bounced off Dobnak’s glove, bare-handed to retire the first out.
“I was able to get ahead of guys today,” said Dobnak after the game. “Just throwing strikes. Last year, I had a little bit of an issue falling behind guys. My game plan was to attack those guys, and I don’t think I walked anybody, so that was the plan going in - just attack them and let my pitches do the work.”
Dobnak returned to the mound in the seventh. After retiring the first batter on another strikeout, he gave up a double to Clippers’ left fielder Jhonkensy Noel that just barely stayed fair down the third base line. Two batters later, Clippers shortstop Daniel Schneemann hit an RBI double to end the Saints shutout effort and make it a 7-1 game.
While his seventh inning didn’t remain perfect, Dobnak said this was one of the best outcomes to start his season following a slow build-up to his Spring Training.
“It was a little bit different than my first start last year, I think I walked five guys. Yeah, I was very mad. But it’s always a good sign for me that my pitches are doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” said Dobnak.
Saints pitching coach Pete Larson said he was impressed by both Festa and Dobnak’s performances after the game.
But the scoring was far from over in the bottom of the seventh. One player seeking his return to the majors is Jose Miranda. After a double in his second plate appearance, Miranda showed on Saturday the woes of 2023 were behind him as he hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh to extend the Saints lead 8-1.
“I knew I got it,” said Miranda reflecting on his home run swing postgame. “It was a good swing, it was a slider in the middle. Good contact, good swing when I got the ball and I knew I had it good.”
TWINS DAILY MINOR LEAGUE PLAYERS OF THE DAY
Pitcher of the Day – Randy Dobnak 4 IP, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
Hitter of the Day – Yoyner Fajardo 2-4 HR (1) 3 RBI (3), K
PROSPECT SUMMARY
Here’s a look at how the current Twins Daily Top 20 prospects in this game performed :
6. David Festa: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
What’s next?
The Saints will finish out their Opening Weekend at CHS Field against the Clippers at 2:07 p.m. Brent Headrick will be on the mound for the Saints against Connor Gillispie for the Clippers
