Storm Chasers Rout Saints 12-4 in Game One, Cardenas Goes Deep Late

The Omaha Storm Chasers put together their most complete offensive night of the series Thursday at CHS Field, jumping on the Saints early and never letting up in a 12-4 win to open the doubleheader. Josh Rojas led the way at the plate, and Omaha's bullpen did just enough to keep St. Paul from ever threatening a real comeback. For a Saints team fighting to stay alive in the playoff race, the loss was a tough one to swallow, and it officially ended their first-half postseason hopes.

Omaha wasted no time. A leadoff single and double from Rojas and Peyton Wilson set the tone in the top of the first, and a throwing error by St. Paul brought both runners home for an early 2-0 lead. The Saints answered with a sacrifice fly from catcher Noah Cardenas in the second and tied the game in the third on a Gabby Gonzalez solo homer. It was a brief moment of life for St. Paul. Omaha's bats took over from there, scoring 10 unanswered runs over the next several innings, highlighted by a three-run homer from Rojas and a two-run double from Wilson that blew the game open.

By the middle innings, the Storm Chasers had stretched the lead to double digits, and the game settled into the kind of laugher that lets a crowd start watching individual battles instead of the scoreboard. St. Paul still had some fight left in the bottom of the seventh, though. Cardenas got things going with a two-out solo home run, his fourth of the season, and Gabby Gonzalez followed with a walk before Matt Wallner singled him home to make it 12-4.