Louie Varland, the former Concordia (St. Paul) pitcher making his first start in Class AAA, threw 5⅓ one-hit, shutout innings as the St. Paul Saints beat the Columbus Clippers 5-1 on Friday night at CHS Field.
Varland, a prep star at North St. Paul, struck out eight and walked two before being lifted after Gabriel Arias doubled for the Clippers' first hit.
Evan Sisk got the final two outs for the Saints in the sixth and Ariel Jurado pitched the final three innings, giving up a homer to Mitchell Tolman in the eighth.
The game was scoreless until the Saints scored four runs in the fourth on Roy Morales' two-run double and Mark Contreras' two-run homer. Morales had a third RBI on a groundout in the eighth.
- The Saints will retire the jersey number (15) of former major leaguer Kevin Millar, who started and ended his baseball career with them, on Saturday.
