The St. Paul Saints faltered late again Thursday in an 8-7 loss at Columbus.

A back-and-forth game appeared to be headed in St. Paul’s favor with a 6-3 lead after the top of the sixth inning, and a 7-5 lead after the top of the eighth. But the Clippers scored three times in the bottom of the eighth and the Saints couldn’t counter, taking their second straight loss in Columbus.

Andrew Morris started and allowed three runs — two earned — in five innings for St. Paul. Reliever Nick Wittgren (1-2) surrendered the three runs in the eighth to be saddled with the loss.

Michael Helman, back with St. Paul after a stint with the Minnesota Twins, started the scoring with a solo homer in the first. It was his 14th homer of the season for the Saints.

After facing a 3-1 deficit, the Saints put up four runs in the fourth. Jeferson Morales had an RBI single and Rylan Bannon followed with an RBI double. Anthony Prato capped the inning with a two-run double. Morales added another RBI single in the sixth.

Carson McCusker had two hits and scored three runs for the Saints.

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