DES MOINES – St. Paul Saints starters have been on a role for the past week, and Griffin Jax has been leading the way.
Jax struck out 10 in six shutout innings and combined with two relievers on a one-hitter, and the Saints won their fifth game in a row, beating the Iowa Cubs 4-0 at Principal Park on Friday night.
The Saints improved to 4-0 in their six-game series at Iowa. Jax beat Iowa for the second time this season, giving up only a leadoff double to Vance Vizcaino to start the fifth inning.
Jax, who walked two and lowered his season ERA to 3.33, has given up one or fewer runs in four of his five starts this season. In his previous start, the 26-year-old struck out eight in six innings in a victory over Indiana. Saints starters have a 1.53 ERA over their past seven games.
The Saints pushed across runs in the third and fourth inning. In the third inning, Tzu-Wei Lin hit a one-out single, stole second with two out and came around to score on Ryan Jeffers' single that was deflected by Iowa third baseman Abiatal Avelino.
In the fourth inning, J.T. Riddle led off with a single, Ben Rortvedt reached on a bunt single, both runners advanced on Jimmy Kerrigan's groundout and Riddle scored on Damek Tomscha's groundout.
The Saints then doubled their lead in the eighth. Lin walked and stole second, Mark Contreras hit an RBI double and Riddle looped an RBI single.
