Aaron Rozek’s answer to the worst outing of his career came without flourish. He gave St. Paul five innings, allowed one earned run and handed a lead to a bullpen that refused to let it go.
Four relievers carried that lead through the final four innings Wednesday at Huntington Park, securing the Saints’ 3-2 victory over the Columbus Clippers. Rozek struck out five, walked one and earned the win.
The cushion arrived almost immediately. Alan Roden snapped an 0-for-19 skid by driving the game’s opening ball down the left-field line and into the corner for a double. Gabriel Gonzalez followed with a shot inside first base that caromed back toward the infield as Roden scored.
Matt Wallner made it three consecutive doubles, dropping a full-count looper into shallow left and bringing Gonzalez home. Before Columbus starter Logan Allen had recorded an out, St. Paul led 2-0.
That burst accounted for three of the Saints’ five hits. Roden and Gonzalez each finished 2-for-4 with a double and a run, and Gonzalez drove in the first run. Wallner went 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
Rozek protected the early advantage by avoiding the inning that had the potential to unravel his start. Columbus put two aboard in the second on Kody Huff’s double and a hit batter, but Rozek struck out Milan Tolentino and induced a groundout from Dayan Frias.
He retired the Clippers in order in the third before they finally broke through in the fourth. Kyle Manzardo opened the inning with a double, moved to third on Ralphy Velazquez’s groundout and scored on Blake Perkins’ sacrifice fly. Rozek stranded Huff after a walk by striking out Tolentino.
St. Paul reclaimed the run in the fifth. Noah Cardenas walked, Roden reached on a soft ground-ball single and Gonzalez loaded the bases with a line-drive single to center. Wallner lifted Ryan Borucki’s first pitch to medium-depth left, deep enough for Cardenas to tag and score for a 3-1 lead.
Rozek finished his afternoon by retiring the side in order in the bottom of the inning, striking out Cooper Ingle for his final out. His line — five innings, one earned run, five strikeouts and one walk — put the burden on a bullpen asked to protect a narrow margin without interruption.
Eric Orze surrendered a walk and struck out Manzardo in the sixth before Velazquez drove a ball toward the wall in left-center. It carried just beyond Roden’s reach and bounced over for a ground-rule double, scoring Kahlil Watson and trimming the lead to 3-2. Orze prevented the tying run from advancing by picking Velazquez off second to end the inning, earning his third hold.
The Clippers pressed again against Matt Bowman in the seventh. Perkins and Frias singled around a strikeout, placing runners at first and second with one out.
Alex Mooney reached for a pitch and sent a soft liner on a short hop to first baseman Aaron Sabato. What followed preserved the game: Sabato threw to second for one out, and with Perkins caught between second and third, the Saints completed the rundown when Tristan Gray applied the tag. The alert double play ended Columbus’ last sustained threat.
Marco Raya struck out two in a scoreless eighth, giving the Saints three outs to cover. Julian Merryweather walked Huff with one out in the ninth but retired Perkins on a fly ball and got Alfonsin Rosario to ground into a force play for his seventh save.
Columbus did not score over the final three innings. The Saints’ bullpen bent once, escaped twice and completed exactly what Rozek had started.