2033 St. Louis River Walkers: And the saga continues

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Record: 30-24, 2nd, 5 GB Springfield
Tied 5-5, Rockford's Daylen Reyes hit a two-run home run off St. Louis reliever Bobby Westerman with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to help lift the Lightning to a 7-6 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
The victory allowed Rockford to avoid being swept in the three-game series.
Alex Horta had led off the top of the ninth with a single off Westerman.
Westerman retired the next two but Reyes pounced on a 2-0 pitch and drove it 417 feet over the wall in right center.
The River Walkers did get a run in the bottom of the ninth on a two-out single by Bob Saavedra off Tony Santana.
But with the bases loaded, Francisco Claros came on and got Zach Wenman to fly out to end it.
The save was the first of the season for Claros.
It was a back-and-forth game with the Lightning jumping in front on a solo homer by Erik Stowe off St. Louis starter Xavier Wigfall in the top of the first.
The Walkers responded with back-to-back homers from Nick Shaw and Manuel Coke off Melvin Chavez in the bottom of the inning.
St. Louis later went up 3-2, only to have the Lighting tie it 3-3.
The Walkers took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the third and later expanded it to 5-3 in the sixth.
Rockford tied it with three runs in the top of the seventh.
The Lightning opened the inning with three straight hits -- a David Blanton double, an Alex Horta and a Greg Bernier double -- off Walkers lefty Greg Sones to tie it 5-5.
Sones, who was once one of the best left-handers in the MBL, has a 17.28 ERA through 16 appearances this season.
Chavez lasted five innings, allowing fours runs on seven hits. He struck out three and walked none.
Ryan Nightingale, Glenn Dunn and Adam Wenger all pitched scoreless innings.
Wenger (2-2) earned his second win of the season.
Santana (0.2 IP) and Claros (0.1) divided up the ninth.
St. Louis suffered two injuries in the contest.
Center fielder Mark Waterson sustained an intercostal strain while running the bases.
He could miss up to two weeks.
Catcher Jackson Miller was injured while running the bases. The extent of his injury is unknown.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have placed both center fielder Mark Waterson and catcher Jackson Miller on the 14-day disabled list after they were injured during a 7-6 loss to Rockford on June 2.
Waterson suffered an intercostal strain while running the bases. He is expected to be out for 10 days to two weeks.
The 25-year-old has played in 50 games this season and is batting .230 with 15 homers and 31 RBIs.
The 36-year-old Miller sustained a strained oblique during a collision while running the bases.
Miller has played in 35 games this season and is batting .218 with four homers and nine RBIs.
Getting called up from AAA are outfielder Wen He and catcher Mario Villa.
He started the season in St. Louis before being sent back to Memphis.
In 31 games with the Walkers, the 27-year-old hit .222 with no homers or RBIs.
At Memphis, He has hit .286 with two homers and 11 RBIs in 13 games.
This will be Villa's first time in the majors.
At AAA this season, the 25-year-old has hit .266 with four homers and 20 RBIs in 41 games.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have returned left-handed reliever Greg Sones to AAA Memphis and called-up 36-year-old Shuta Kimura.
Sones, 29, who had been a key part of the St. Louis bullpen since 2034 has endured a nightmarish 2038 season.
In 16 games with the Walkers, Sones is 0-3 with a 17.28 ERA. He has pitched 8.1 innings and posted a WHIP of 3.24 with three homers allowed.
Sones wasn't much better in a previous stint at Memphis, where he got into seven games and went 0-1 with two saves and 10.12 ERA.
Signed out of the *** after the 2037 season, Kimura has pitched in 13 games for the Redbirds, going 2-1 with one save and a 4.64 ERA.

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Record: 30-25, 3rd, 5.5 GB Springfield
St. Louis closer Craig Fritzler threw just one pitch in his team's 6-4 10-inning loss to Toledo, it was knocked over the fence in right-center field by the Mud Hens Fernando Jimenez to give his team the win at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (1974).
Jesse Gaither opened the 10th on the mound for the Walkers.
He retired Andy Jordan to open the inning but allowed a single to Ellis Parr.
Fritzler was given the call to replace Gaither, who had also worked the ninth.
A few seconds later the game was over.
Holding leads continued to be a major problem for St. Louis.
It jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on homers by Ryan Wibbenmeyer and Nick Shaw off Toledo starting pitcher Luis Gramajo.
The Mud Hens tied it with a pair of their own off Miguel Cisneros in the bottom of the inning.
Manuel Coke and Shaw stroked RBI singles off Gramajo in the fourth to put the Walkers ahead 4-2.
Toledo evened it with runs in the fourth -- Kevin Valentin with a homer off Cisneros -- and seventh -- Andy Jordan with a run-scoring single off Maximilliano Minelli -- and it stayed tied until the bottom of the 10th.
Gramajo lasted four innings, allowing four runs on six hits.
Mike Goldblatt followed with a pair of scoreless innings.
After that, it was a silent inning apiece from Mark Henderson, Cameron Timmerman, George Williams and Sean Hopkins.
Hopkins (1-1) earned his first win of the season.

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Record: 31-25, 3rd, 5.5 GB Springfield
Tied 3-3, Nick Shaw hit a two-run homer off Toledo relief pitcher George Williams with one out in the top of the 10th inning to help lift St. Louis to a 5-3 win at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (1974).
Ryan Wibbenmeyer had led off the inning with a single off Williams.
Manuel Coke flew out for the inning's first out.
Shaw then powered a 0-1 pitch 438 feet over the fence in right center to put St. Louis in front.
The Walkers jumped in front early when Mark Herman hit a three-run homer off Mud Hens starting pitcher Matt Todd in the top of the first.
But once against St. Louis could not hold that lead.
Toledo got single runs against Walkers starter Ming Xiang in the third and fifth innings.
The Hens tied it in the seventh.
Xiang was still on the mound when Quiang Chang singled with one out.
A wild pitch moved him to second and he scored when Dave Hernandez scored on a double off Bobby Westerman.
Xiang allowed three runs on five hits in his 6.1 innings. He struck out five and walked one.
Westerman finished the seventh and got the first out of the eighth.
He left the game with an undisclosed injury.
Closer Craig Fritzler completed the eighth and worked a scoreless ninth.
Fritzler (1-0) earned his first win of the season.
Ron Cox set the Hens down in order in the 10th for his first save.

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Record: 32-25, 2nd, 5.5 GB Springfield
Kevin Hrdlicka limited Toledo to one run over seven innings and Manuel Coke homered twice to lead St. Louis to a 9-1 rout at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (1974).
The 2038 season has been a rough one for Hrdlicka, but not this game.
He shut out the Mud Hens for the first six innings before allowing a run in the seventh, by which time the River Walkers led 8-0.
For the game, Hrdlicka (4-6) allowed one run on five hits. He struck out 10 and walked one.
Coke hit the first of his two homers in the first -- this one off Toledo starting pitcher Josh Stauffer -- to stake St. Louis to a 2-0 lead.
The Walkers would score single runs in each of the next three innings to go up 5-0.
Those innings featured a lead-off homer from Mark Herman in the third inning.
St. Louis busted the game open with a three-run seventh, which featured a two-run homer from Nick Shaw off Mud Hens reliever Mike Goldblatt.
Shaw has homered in four consecutive games.
Ellis Parr accounted for the lone Toledo run when he led off the seventh with a homer off Hrdlicka.
Coke hit his second home run of the game in the top of the ninth off Andres Yanez.
37-year-old rookie Shuta Kimura made his MBL debut with a scoreless bottom of the eight for St. Louis.
Kyle Smarr kept it 8-1 with a scoreless ninth.

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MBL news: June 6 -- All-Star game fan-voting update

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Record: 33-25, 2nd, 4.5 GB Springfield
Brad Monroe shut out Toledo into the eighth inning and St. Louis downed the Mud Hens 4-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (1974).
The win gave the River Walkers wins in the final three games of the four-game series.
Monroe allowed five hits over the first seven innings before allowing three singles in a span of four batters to open the eighth.
The third single, by Chris Gibbs, scored Kevin Valentin with Toledo's first run to make it 4-1.
Monroe then left the game.
For his outing, Monroe (5-1) would be charged with two runs on eight hits. He struck out seven and didn't walk a batter.
Jesse Gaither gave up a two-out single to Andy Jordan, scoring the Mud Hens' second run.
He then walked Ellis Parr to load the bases.
But he got Quiang Chang to strike out, keeping the Walkers in front 4-2.
Maximilliano Minelli pitched around a one-out walk in the bottom of the ninth for his first save.
St. Louis went in front 3-0 in the top of the second inning and Toledo starting pitcher Chris Ebarb.
Bob Saavedra drove in the first two runs with a two-out double.
Ryan Wibbenmeyer followed with a single making it 3-0.
The Walkers got their fourth run in the seventh.
Wibbenmeyer led off with a single off Mark Henderson.
He then stole second and would score on a Nick Shaw fly ball to left.

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MBL news: June 7 -- Week 9 - Awards and standings

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The St. Louis River Walkers have placed right-handed relief pitcher Bobby Westerman on the 60-day injured list after he was diagnosed with an elbow injury and had to undergo ligament reconstruction surgery.
After serving as the Walkers closer in 2037, he posted 28 saves but suffered an MBL leading 11 blown saves, Westerman was back in a set-up role in 2038.
The 29-year-old Westerman has been with the Walkers since being acquired from Madison during the 2035 season.
He has pitched in 151 games going 11-9 with 48 saves and a 3.35 ERA.
He got into 28 games and had gone 1-3 with two saves and a 2.81 ERA.
Getting the callup from AAA Memphis is 29-year right-hander Dave Ochoa.
In 11 games this season, four of them starts, Ochoa has gone 2-4 with a 4.10 ERA.
This is Ochoa's first callup to the majors.

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Sal Valdez hit a pair of two-run homers, including a tie-breaking homer in the top of the eighth inning, to help lift Green Bay to a 6-4 win over St. Louis at Busch Stadium (2006).
Tied 4-4, Hugo Vargas led off the top of the eighth with a single off River Walkers reliever Maximilliano Minelli.
Keith Kirby took over for Minelli and was greeted by Valdez who knocked a 1-0 pitch 352 feet over the wall in right field to put the Mallards in front.
Valdez's other two-run homer came in the top of the sixth, it came off Walkers starter Xavier Wigfall in the top of the sixth and tied the game at 4-4.
St. Louis jumped out to a 3-0 lead against Green Bay starter Randy Jones.
It later owned a 4-1 advantage.
Jones lasted four innings, allowing four runs on five hits. He struck out four and walked three.
The Mallards used six relievers, who combined to shut out St. Louis over the final five innings.
Jason Garrett was first pitching the fifth and getting the first two outs of the sixth inning.
Angel Hurtado finished off the sixth for the Mallards.
Joshua Barnett (0.2 IP) and Alex Jimenez (0.1) combined to work a scoreless seventh.
Barnett (1-0) would get the win.
David Bergeron handled the eighth.
Matt Rodriguez earned his 13th save in the ninth.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have acquired 32-year-old right-handed relief pitcher Alex Rios from the Peoria Rivermen in exchange for three minor leaguers.
Looking to somewhat fill the void following the loss of veteran right-hander Bobby Westerman to elbow surgery, St. Louis went after Rios, who has pitched in 79 games for Peoria over the five seasons.
This season, Rios has gotten in 19 games for the Rivermen going 1-2 with a 2.60 ERA over 27.2 innings.
Going to Peoria are right-handed pitchers Ken Henry and Nick Quiroz, and shortstop Ian Johnson.
St. Louis also acquired minor-league catcher Doug Bernard.
Henry, 26, has been playing for AAA Memphis this season, going 4-4 in 11 starts with a 4.83 ERA.
Quiroz, 21, has been in the rookie league, where he has pitched in two games and posted one save and a 0.00 ERA.
Johnson, 21, has been at AA Springfield, where he has hit .242 with three homers and 17 RBIs in 50 games (49 starts).
Bernard, 24, has not played this season.
In 2037, he played at low-A Las Vegas where he had no batting average in three at bats.

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Walkers news: June 8 -- Players involved in St. Louis-Peoria trade

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The St. Louis River Walkers have activated rookie left-hander Frank Jimenez from the 14-day injured list and sent lefty Shuta Kimura down to AAA Memphis.
Jimenez has been out since May 24 when he left a 10-9 loss to Twin Cities with a tired arm.
The 24-year-old has pitched in 11 games for St. Louis this season, earning one save and a 0.00 ERA over 10 innings.
Kimura, 36, only pitched in one inning of one game while in St. Louis. He did not allow a run.

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Record: 33-27, 3rd, 5.5 GB Springfield
Matt Wilson shut out St. Louis into the sixth inning -- and the River Walkers didn't score until the bottom of the seventh, by which time they trailed 3-0 -- as Green Bay won 3-1 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Wilson (6-0) won his sixth straight decision of the season by not allowing a run on five hits (all singles) over the first 5.2 innings. He struck out two and walked one.
Wilson left the game with two on and two outs in the sixth having thrown 102 pitches.
Angel Hurtado got Zach Wenman to fly out to keep the score 1-0.
The Mallards got that run in the top of the sixth, when a bout of wildness hurt Walkers starting pitcher Miguel Cisneros.
Devon Reyna led off the inning with a single.
After Cisneros walked CJ Abrams with a pitch and hit Blaze Jordan the bases were loaded with no outs.
The next batter, Hugo Vargas, made it 1-0 with a fly ball to left.
Green Bay added its other two runs in the seventh.
Cisneros again had trouble finding the strike zone.
He walked Phillip Clarke to open the inning and then hit Luis Salinas with a pitch.
Cisneros, who hit three batters in the game, then exited the contest.
Alex Rios, making his St. Louis debut after being acquired earlier in the day from Peoria, got pinch-hitter Johnny Castagnozzi to hit into a fielder's choice.
But Reyna and Abrams both followed with singles to make it 3-0.
St. Louis got its lone run in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI double from Ryan Wibbenmeyer off Nate Guthrie.
Guthrie, Jeff Hoffman and Matt Rodriguez all pitched an inning to close the game for the Mallards.
Rodriguez posted his 14th save.

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Record: 34-27, 3rd, 5.5 GB Springfield
Mark Herman stroked his fourth single of the game, he went 4 for 4, and later scored the game-winning run when Green Bay right fielder Jimmy Thomas dropped a fly ball in the bottom of the ninth as St. Louis edged the Mallards 4-3 at Busch Stadium (2006).
The win allowed the River Walkers to avoid a three-game sweep,
Herman's single came off Green Bay reliever Joshua Barnett.
Nick Shaw followed Herman's hit with another single putting runners at first and second.
With one out, Zach Wenman lofted a fly ball to right which Thomas misplayed allowing Herman to score.
Both teams had their No. 1 starters on the mound -- Ernesto Tello for the Mallards, Ming Xiang for St. Louis -- but there was some early offense.
Green Bay jumped out to leads of 1-0 and 3-1.
St. Louis made it 3-2 in the third.
Herman led off with a single off Tello and scored on a Wen He sacrifice fly after moving to third on a Shaw double.
The Walkers tied it in the fourth.
Bob Saavedra led off with a double and scored on a Herman fly ball to left.
Xiang allowed three runs on seven hits in seven innings. He struck out seven and didn't walk a batter.
Maxmilliano Minelli pitched a scoreless eighth.
Ron Cox (5-0) did the same in the ninth to get the win.

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Record: 34-28, 3rd, 5.5 GB Springfield
The St. Louis River Walkers decided not to retain second baseman Marcos Francis after his two seasons with the team, he made them pay in an 8-4 loss to Des Moines at Green Canyon Park.
Francis put up All-Star numbers in his two seasons in St. Louis, but because of his age 33), the River Walkers opted to let him walk and he signed a deal that could earn him more than $80 million over the next four seasons.
In this game, Francis went 2 for 4 with two runs scored and a grand slam that accounted for all four of his RBIs.
In addition, Francis singled off River Walkers starter Kevin Hrdlicka in the bottom of the second and later scored for his team's first run to make it 3-1.
Francis made his biggest contribution in the fifth, hitting a grand slam off Hrdlicka to highlight a five-run inning which turned a 4-1 deficit into an 6-4 advantage for the Harvesters.
Des Moines added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth against reliever Jesse Gaither.
Pinch-hitter John Docherty led off the inning with a home run.
Joe Allen doubled with one out and scored on a two-out single by David Tapley.
Des Moines starting pitcher Pat Walkers lasted four innings, allowing all four River Walkers runs on five hits. He struck out four and walked a pair.
After that, Neil Freiberger worked a pair of scoreless innings.
Freiberger (2-0) earned the win.
Dave Vacarri, Davey Matteson and Mark Polzin all pitched scoreless innings to end the game.

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Record: 35-28, 3rd, 5.5 GB Springfield
Ryan Rivet ripped a first-inning home run off St. Louis starting pitcher Brad Monroe to give Des Moines a 3-0 lead, but the Harvesters would not score again as the River Walkers rallied for a 5-3 win at Green Canyon Park.
Des Moines put its first three batters of the bottom of the first on base, the third being Rivet who hit his 16th home run of the season.
The Walkers started climbing back into it in the top of the second.
Nick Shaw doubled with one-out off Harvesters starting pitcher Raul Rivas. He scored on a two-out single by Zach Wenman.
Mark Herman made it 3-2 with his 16th home run of the season in the top f the fourth.
Zach Wenman evened matters when he led off the fifth with a homer off Rivas.
Not much later, St. Louis had the lead.
As Abdul-Nasser bin Amr singled and took second on a throwing error by left fielder Joe Allen.
A bunt by Monroe moved bin Amr to third.
Bob Saavedra then put the Walkers in front with a double.
St. Louis added an insurance run in the seventh.
Pinch-hitter Jordan Quinto drew a lead-off walk from reliever Wade Hreha.
Saavedra followed with a single as Quinto advanced to third.
Ryan Wibbenmeyer made it 5-3 with a deep fly ball to left.
Monroe settled in after the rough start going five more shutout innings.
In his six innings, Monroe (6-1) allowed three runs on five hits. He struck out three and walked two.
After that, it was a scoreless inning each for Alex Rios, Maxmilliano Minelli and Craig Fritzler to close out the game.
Fritzler increased his save total to 16.

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Walkers news: June 12 -- All-Star game fan voting update

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Record: 35-29, 3rd, 5.5 GB Springfield
Des Moines jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held on for a 4-2 win over St. Louis at Green Canyon Park.
The victory gave the Harvesters wins in two of three games in the series.
Former Walker All-Star second baseman Marcos Francis helped Des Moines grab the lead by leading off the bottom of the fourth with a homer off River Walkers starting pitcher Xavier Wigfall.
Kyle Roberts added another long ball later in the inning to make it 2-0.
The Harvesters upped that advantage by another run in the fifth.
Ryan Rivet opened the inning by reaching on an error by shortstop Jordan Quinto.
A balk by Wigfall moved Rivet to second.
Rivet moved on to third when David Tapley singled.
Francis then collected his second RBI of the game with a double.
A two-run double by Nick Shaw in the top of the sixth allowed the Walkers to pull to within 3-2.
The Harvesters got one of those runs back in the bottom of the eighth.
Noah Smith drew a lead-off walk from reliever Ron Cox.
Joe Allen moved Smith to second with a bunt.
Ryan Rivet then greeted reliever Jesse Gaither with a double as Smith crossed the plate.
The Harvesters got a strong start from Jon Diaz, who allowed two runs on seven hits over seven innings.
Diaz (4-6) struck out eight and walked two.
Teddy Loetzch pitched a scoreless eighth for Des Moines.
Mark Polzin set St. Louis down in order in the ninth for his 12th save.