DaShawn Keirsey Jr. continued his hot hitting since returning to the St. Paul Saints from an injury, and he was joined by most of the Saints’ lineup in their 8-2 win over the Iowa Cubs on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa.

Keirsey went 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI, raising his average this season to .316. He returned to the Saints on June 22 after missing nearly a month with a calf injury and has had a hit in all seven games since, including four multi-hit games. The center fielder, who was drafted in the fourth round in 2018 by the Twins, is hitting .394 (13 for 33) in those seven games and has a 13-game hitting streak overall.

One night after Keirsey’s two hits were the Saints’ only hits in an 8-1 loss to the I-Cubs, eight of the nine hitters in the St. Paul lineup recorded hits, and six drove in runs.

Edouard Julien and Yunior Severino each had two hits, Chris Williams hit his fifth home run of the season, and Brooks Lee and Anthony Prato had doubles.

All that offense backed one of the best pitching performances of the season for Gus Varland. The former North St. Paul and Concordia-St. Paul standout pitched five scoreless innings, allowing four hits while striking out seven and walking two.

The performance stopped a stretch of rocky outings by Varland. He had allowed four runs or more in six of his previous nine outings and last Sunday had allowed 11 earned runs on 11 hits in 2 1/3 innings against Toledo.

Josh Winder followed Varland and allowed two runs on three hits with four strikeouts over two innings. Ryan Jensen pitched a scoreless eighth, striking out one and walking two, and Jeff Brigham struck out the side in the ninth to finish the game.

The Saints scored a run in the first and another in the second before breaking things open with a four-run fourth inning. Prato drove in a run with a double and then scored on a single by Julien. Following a single by Matt Wallner, Severino hit a two-out single to left field to score Julien from third. Keirsey followed with a single to score Wallner.

After winning three of the first five games of the series, which opened the second half of the American Association’s International League season, the Saints will go for a series win in the final today which starts at 1 p.m.

 

SEATTLE — The Twins are well aware of how valuable Willi Castro and his versatility are to them.

But how’s this for a stat to actually quantify it: per MLB Network research, when Castro manned second base on Saturday, he became just the third player in Major League Baseball history with at least 20 appearances at five different positions in the same season.

He joins Zach McKinstry, who did it last year for Detroit, and Tony Phillips, who accomplished the feat in 1992. And one of those “positions” for Phillips was designated hitter.

McKinstry, who did it last year, took nearly the entire season to do so, playing his 20th game at shortstop on Sept. 20, Game 152 of the season.

It took Castro just 83 games.

“We’re only halfway through the season, so I wonder what he’s actually going to accomplish by the end of the year, but we know what we have in Willi,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We know how fortunate we are and how much he helps us as a team.”

Castro handled third base duties when Royce Lewis went down, shortstop when Carlos Correa got injured, center field when Byron Buxton went on the injured list and now he’s mostly been playing second since the Twins optioned Edouard Julien to Triple-A. He’s also been in the mix in left field, the position he’s been at the most, appearing there in 22 games heading into Saturday’s tilt.

“They’re going to use me wherever they need me and I will get the job done,” Castro said earlier this month. “They believe in me a lot and I just try to do my best every time I play those positions.”

Snack time

You never quite know what you’re going to see when you walk into a major league clubhouse.

On Saturday, it was a plate of toasted grasshoppers with a chili-lime seasoning, which are a popular concession item at T-Mobile Park. They were there for any player, coach or staff member brave enough to try one.

Most stayed away.

Correa, who said he had eaten one in the past, tried to prod some of his teammates into snacking on one but had little success.

“Margot’s the No. 1 eater in this clubhouse,” Correa yelled across the room.

“I’m full,” Manuel Margot responded.

“No chance,” Jhoan Duran said.

“I’m good,” Christian Vázquez replied.

Relievers Kody Funderburk and Josh Staumont, starter Chris Paddack and utilityman Austin Martin were among those who ate one.

Joe Ryan, after some encouragement from Staumont — who ate multiple of them and said he enjoyed them — picked one up, smelled it and then flung the insect across the room into a trash can.

Briefly

The Twins’ nine-game, 10-day road trip will come to a conclusion on Sunday when Joe Ryan takes the mound against Luis Castillo. Ryan gave up four runs in six innings pitched the last time out against the Diamondbacks. He did not face the Mariners earlier this season. Castillo gave up three runs — two earned — in 6 2/3 innings against the Twins in May.

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