Saints swept in doubleheader at Columbus, losing streak at seven

COLUMBUS, OHIO – The Saints had two chances Sunday to end their losing streak. The went 0-for-2.

One out away from victory in Game 2, the Saints gave up a tying home run and lost 5-4 to the Columbus Clippers in eight innings. In the first game, Twins righthander Bailey Ober gave up four hits and four earned runs in five innings in the first start of a rehab assignment, and the Saints lost 5-3.

The Saints have lost seven games in a row, tying their record-long losing streak as a Class AAA franchise.

In the second game, Tyler Freeman tied the score with a solo homer off Trevor Megill with two out in the seventh inning, and the Clippers earned their third walkoff victory of the series an inning later on a sacrifice fly.

Ober started Game 1 with two perfect innings, but he gave up a two-run homer to Will Benson in the third inning, then hit a batter and threw a wild pitch in Columbus' three-run fourth. He pitched a 1-2-3 fifth and finished with seven strikeouts.

Kyle Garlick, the other Twins player on a rehab assignment with the Saints, went 2-for-4 with a double in Game 1. Alex Kirilloff, demoted by the Twins on Saturday, went a combined 4-for-7 in the two games, with two singles in each game.