2039 and beyond -- St. Louis River Walkers thread

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Record: 5-11, 6th, 7 GB Cedar Rapids
Chicago beat up on St. Louis starting pitcher Kevin Hrdlicka for seven runs in six innings while building a 7-0 lead, the G-Men then held off a River Walkers' comeback to hold on for a 7-6 win.
The victory was Chicago's second in a row to close the three-game series.
The G-Men went up 1-0 in the top of the third when Jesse Willoughby hit the first of his two homers off Hrdlicka to lead off the inning.
Willoughby struck again in the fifth with a two-run shot, making it 3-0.
Chicago then broke the game open with a four-run sixth.
Hrdlicka faced five batters, walking two, and giving up three hits.
Alfredo Cano drove in two of the runs with a double.
Willougby drove in the inning's first run with a fly ball to center.
Pitcher Erik DePasquale plated the final run with a single.
Chicago would need every one of those runs.
St. Louis scored two runs in the sixth, one in the seventh and three in the eighth to pull within 7-6.
The Walkers had runners on second with one out in the seventh after Jose Nieto connected on a two-run double making it 7-6.
But reliever Justin Sterner got Jose Ramon to fly out and Quiang Chang to ground out, keeping the G-Men in front.
In the ninth, former Walker closer Craig Fritzler issued a lead-off walk to Mark Herman.
But he got Manuel Coke to hit into a double play and Jose Segura grounded out to end the game.
DePasquale (1-0) went 5.1 innings allowing one run on three hits. He struck out four and didn't issue a walk.
McVey got the final out of the sixth and the first out of the seventh.
Sterner finished the seventh.
Eyre worked the eighth giving up the three Walkers' runs.
The save was Fritzler's third of the season.

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Record: 5-12, 6th, 7 GB Cedar Rapids
Twin Cities broke open a scoreless game with three runs in the top of the fourth and went on to defeat St. Louis 7-1 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Pete Johnson got the Snow Cats rolling when he led off the fourth with a solo homer off River Walkers starting pitcher Juan Farias.
Daniel Sanabria then wound up at second when first baseman Nick Shaw made a wild throw on a ground ball.
Jesse Lemming scored Shaw with a single.
Leming, who advanced to second on the throw to the plate, later scored on a single by pitcher Danny Patino.
The Snow Cats scored two more times off Farias in the fifth.
Leming connected another RBI with a two-out single.
Johnson, who had singled earlier in the inning, made it 5-0 when he scored on a wild pitch.
Twin Cities tallied two more times in the seventh, this time off the St. Louis' bullpen.
Daniel Sanabria drove in the first run with a double off Carlos Hernandez.
Eddie Boynton later doubled off Alex Rios, scoring Sanabria to make it 7-0.
The lone Walkers run came on a Jose Segura homer in the bottom of the seventh off Juan Crespo.
Patino went 5.1 shutout innings, allowing three hits. He struck out four and didn't walk a batter.
Lorenzo Mascorro finished off the fifth for the Snow Cats.
Twin Cities used four relievers -- Crespo (1.1 IP), John Fiefield (0.2), Walter Maxwell (0.1) and Andres Alvares -- to close out the game.

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Record: 6-12, 6th, 7 GB Cedar Rapids
Down 5-0, St. Louis exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the eighth innings and went on to defeat Twin Cities 9-5 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Forced to make a bullpen start, the Snow Cats capitalized early with Jonathan Knapp connecting for a three-run homer off starting pitcher Evan Palmer in the top of the first inning.
That lead grew to 5-0 in the top of the eighth when the Snow Cats tallied twice off the St. Louis bullpen.
But the Walkers' bats finally came alive in the eighth scoring nine times on eight hits.
Tommy Gardner got things going with a lead-off single off Lorenzo Mascorro.
After a strike out, Jose Segura singled and a walk to Mike Vaughan loaded the bases.
Pinch-hitter R.J. Gomez drove in a run with a single.
Jose Nieto followed that with a two-run double, making it 5-3.
Manuel Coke grounded out, but drove in a run as St. Louis pulled within 5-4.
Ramon Bustamante replaced Mascorro, it didn't go well.
Quiang Chang greeted him with a single to tie the game.
A single by Mark Herman then loaded the bases.
Tommy Gardner put St. Louis in front with a single.
Tom Blevins then delivered the big blow with his first home run of the season, a three-run shot, as the Walkers advantage grew to 9-5.
Palmer, who made the start for St. Louis, retired just one batter and gave up the Cats first three runs.
Chris Willett was next and pitched well, finishing the first and following it up with three scoreless innings.
Leo Hermosillo pitched scoreless fifth and sixth innings.
Closer Tom Floria worked the seventh and got the first out of the eighth.
He gave up Twin Cities final two runs.
Alex Rios (1-0) wrapped up the eighth. He would get the win.
Juan Munoz kept the score 9-5 in the ninth.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have placed first baseman Nick Shaw on the 14-day injured list after he suffered a hamstring injury during a 9-5 win over Twin Cities on April 21.
Shaw is expected to miss up to five weeks.
In 18 games this season, 16 starts, Shaw has hit .305 with two home runs and six RBIs.
Getting called up from AAA Memphis is 34-year-old outfielder/first baseman Esteban Gomez.
In nine games at Memphis, Gomez has hit .350 with two homers and 11 RBIs.

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Record: 7-12, 6th, 6 GB Cedar Rapids
St. Louis jumped on Twin Cities starting pitcher Andy Dornfeld for five runs in the bottom of the first inning and never stopped scoring as the River Walkers routed the Snow Cats 12-2 at Busch Stadium (2006).
The win was the second in a row for St. Louis to close out the three-game series.
Dornfeld actually retired the first two batters in the bottom of the first, but Mark Herman got them going with a single.
The next five St. Louis batters would reach base.
Tommy Gardner drove in the first run when he drew a bases-loaded walk.
Esteban Gomez, playing his first game with St. Louis since being called up from Memphis, followed with a two-run single.
Adam Stewart made it 5-0 by connecting on a double.
St. Louis would add single runs in the third and fifth innings, taking a 7-1 lead.
The Walkers later busted it open with three runs in the seventh and two in the eighth.
Herman finished the game 3 for 5 with two runs scored.
Jose Segura was 2 for 2 with three runs scored.
Gomez was impressive going 3 for 4 with a double, two runs scored and five RBIs.
Stewart was 3 for 4 with two doubles and three RBIs.
On the mound, Brent Autin (3-1) went seven innings against his former team allowing one run on six hits. He struck out seven and walked one.
Adam Tressidder handled the final two innings, giving up a meaningless run.

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MBL news: April 23 -- Week 3 -- Awards and standings

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Record: 7-13, 6th, 6 GB Cedar Rapids
Ruben Ruiz shut out St. Louis over the first 5.1 innings and the Railers bullpen did the rest in a 6-0 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
Ruiz (2-2) allowed just two hits -- a single and a double -- in his time on the mound. He struck out seven and walked two.
Four Railers pitchers combined to strike out 14 St. Louis batters in the game.
Springfield had plenty of success against River Walkers starter Ming Xiang, scoring four times off him in the first 5.1 innings.
It started early with a pair of runs in the first.
Luke Leto led off the game with a single and then stole second.
Carlton Randall drove him home with a single.
After a flyout, a walk to Brendan York and a single by Hideaki Taguchi loaded the bases.
Rogelio Mercado then drove home York with a double.
Springfield added single runs in the fifth -- Taguchi with an RBI single off Xiang -- and sixth -- Randall with a run-scoring single off Chris Willett, who had just replaced Xiang -- to take a 4-0 lead.
The Railers got their final two runs in the eighth off the St. Louis bullpen.
Pinch-hitter Pablo Juncosa led off with a double off Kyle Smarr.
Smarr then proceeded to walk the next two hitters, loading the bases.
Juan Munoz took over and gave up an RBI single to Salas.
York made it 6-0 with a deep fly ball to left.
Three relievers combined to finish the game for the Railers -- Preston Brewers (1.2 IP), Blake Schwartz (1.0) and Jon Santiago (1.0) -- who came into the game with a 3-14 record.

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Record: 7-14, 6th, 6 GB Cedar Rapids
St. Louis jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning, but it would not score again, and Springfield rallied for a 5-4 victory at Oracle Park (2020).
Manuel Coke provided the big hit of the River Walkers' first-run outburst hitting a three-run homer off Railers starting pitcher Tony Aceves.
Beginning in the bottom of the second inning, when Jason Nolan doubled with two outs off St. Louis starter Kevin Hrdlicka and scored two batters later on a Raul Collazo single, Springfield climbed back into the game.
The Railers picked up their second run in the bottom of the fifth.
Brendan York led off with a single off Hrdlicka.
A wild pitch moved him to second.
Vincent Villavicencio made it 4-2 with a single.
The rest came in the seventh against the Walkers' bullpen.
York led off with a single off Chris Willett.
Juan Munoz took over the mound duties for St. Louis.
It was ugly.
Munoz walked the first batter he faced, Billy Salas.
Villavicencio and pinch-hitter Jim Sukut then followed with back-to-back double -- Villavicencio's hit scored one while Sukut's plated a pair -- as Springfield surged into the lead.
Aceves went 4.2 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits. He struck out three and didn't walk a batter.
Tomas Vasquez finished the fifth inning and worked a scoreless sixth for Springfield.
Roger Cresswell (2-1) would get the win after working a scoreless seventh.
Jason Dexheimer pitched two scoreless frames for his second save.

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Record: 7-15, 6th, 6 GB Cedar Rapids
Springfield starting pitcher Pascal Marcovicci took a no-hitter into the top of the eighth inning and the Railers completed a three-game sweep of St. Louis with a 4-1 win at Oracle Park (2020).
Marcovicci (2-1) didn't allow a hit until the River Walkers' Manuel Coke doubled to lead off the top of the eighth.
Manuel Santiago then replaced Marcovicci.
Coke would later score on a double by pinch-hitter Mark Herman, making the score 4-1.
In his seven-plus innings, Marcovicci allowed the one run on one hit. He struck out four and walked four.
Santiago finished the eighth, keeping the score 4-1.
Jon Santiago took care of the ninth for his second save of the season.
The Railers got all four of their runs off Walkers starting pitcher Juan Farias.
They got one in the first.
Brendan York and Vincent Villavicencio connected on back-to-back one-out doubles.
Another in the second.
Jose Chavez led off with a single.
A wild pitch moved Chavez to second.
A ground ball placed Chavez on third.
Chavez scored on a Mark Johnson fly ball to left.
Chavez doubled off Farias with one out in the fourth.
A single by Jason Nolan moved him to third.
Marcovicci picked up an RBI with a deep fly ball to left.
Villavicencio singled with one out off Farias in the fifth.
Hideaki Taguchi and Chavez later banged out two out singles to bring him home with the game's final run.

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Record: 8-15, 6th, 5.5 GB Cedar Rapids
St. Louis exploded for six runs in the bottom of the third inning and that wold be all of the game's scoring, as the River Walkers downed Toledo 6-0 at Busch Stadium (2006).
After going through the first two innings without a hit, St. Louis unleashed on Mud Hens starting pitcher Kyle Freeman in the third.
Quiang Chang got it going with a lead-off double.
After a fly out, Mark Herman drew a walk and Manuel Coke followed that by driving in the inning's first run with a single.
Esteban Gomez then made it 2-0 with another single.
After a fly out, Mark Waterson drew a walk to load the bases.
R.J. Gomez then drove in two runs with a double.
Rookie pitcher Nate Simmons followed with another single, scoring two more.
Simmons, despite not allowing any runs, didn't last long enough to earn the win.
He threw 77 pitches in 3.2 innings, allowing four hits. He didn't strike out a batter and walked two.
Evan Palmer (1-0), who finished the fourth and went three scoreless innings after that, would earn his first win of the season.
Carlos Hernandez (0.1 IP) and Adam Tressider (0.2) combined on a scoreless eighth inning.
Kyle Smarr handled the ninth and closed out the shutout.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have placed shortstop R.J. Gomez on the 14-day injured list after he suffered a quadriceps injury while running the bases in a 6-0 win over Toledo on April 26.
Gomez, who started the season at AAA Memphis before being called to the majors, played in 14 games/13 starts for St. Louis and batted .233 with six RBIs.
He is expected to miss about a week of playing time.
Getting the call up from AAA Memphis is 26-year-old infielder Eric Wnorowski.
It is Wnorowski's first time in the majors.
In 17 games/12 starts for Memphis this season, Wnorowski has hit .320 with two homers and 10 RBIs.
In other moves, second baseman Ryan Wibbenmeyer and infielder Rich Dodson have both been sent to Memphis after stints on the 14-day injury list.
Wibbenmeyer, 31, has not played since April 9 when he suffered a strained Achilles tendon.
He was batting .280 with an RBI in six games at the time of the injury.
Dodson, 28, suffered his injury on March 17 during spring training.
He played 45 games/35 starts with the Walkers in 2039, batting .325 with four homers and 14 RBIs.

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Record: 8-16, 6th (Tied/w. Springfield), 6.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Ellis Parr homered three times and drove in four runs to power Toledo to an 8-2 win over St. Louis at Busch Stadium (2006).
All three of Parr's homers came off River Walkers' starter Brent Autin.
He launched a two-run homer in the first to start the scoring.
He hit a solo shot in the third to make it 3-1.
The Mud Hens added two more runs in the inning -- both scoring on a Mario Gurule double -- to go up 5-1.
Parr's led off the fifth with his third long ball off Autin.
Toledo scored two more times before the inning ended to take an 8-1 lead.
The three homers gave Parr 14 for the season. Grand Rapids' Jake Klingenstein is second with 10.
Mud Hens starting pitcher Vern De san Miguel (2-1) went five innings, allowing one run on four hits. He struck out six and walked two.
Chris Faidley worked the sixth and seventh innings for Toledo.
The final two innings were taken care of by Tom Hinote (0.2 IP) and Jim Campbell (1.1 IP).

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Record: 9-16, 6th/(Tied/w. Springfield), 5.5 GB Cedar Rapids
St. Louis scored three times in the bottom of the third inning to open the scoring, and the River Walkers held on for a 3-2 lead at Busch Stadium (2006).
All three of the Walkers third-inning runs came with two outs off Mud Hens starting pitcher Cameron Timmerman.
Jose Ramon and Quing Chang had both singled with one out.
Manuel Coke then struck out for the second out.
Mark Herman stepped up with an RBI single, putting the Walkers in front 1-0.
Timmerman then hit Esteban Gomez with a pitch to load the bases.
Tom Blevins followed with a single, scoring two to make it 3-0.
St. Louis starter Ming Xiang (1-4) finally got his first win of the season.
He went 6.2 innings, allowing one run on six hits. He struck out seven and walked one.
Leo Hermosillo finished off the seventh for St. Louis.
Toledo did score a run off Adam Tressider in the eighth -- T.J. Latham led off the inning with a triple and scored on a sac fly -- as it cut the deficit to 3-2.
Juan Munoz worked around a one-out single in the ninth for his fourth save.

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Record: 10-16, 5th (tied/w. Springfield), 4.5 GB Cedar Rapids and Quad City
Tommy Gardner homered off Toledo closer George Williams with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning to lift St. Louis to a 3-2 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
The homer was the first of the season for Gardner, it came on a 2-2 and traveled 382 feet over the left-field wall -- and gave the River Walkers victories in three of four games in the series.
The Mud Hens jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Brent Plummer's two-run homer off St. Louis starting pitcher Kevin Hrdlicka in the top of the second inning.
Later, with it tied 2-2, Toledo took a 3-2 lead in the fourth
Plummer again scored the run after drawing a one-out walk from Hrdlicka.
A double by Francisco Mora moved Plummer to third.
He scored when Gardner, playing shortstop, booted a two-out ground ball hit by T.J. Latham.
The Walkers tied it in the bottom of the fourth.
Gardner led off the inning with a double off Mud Hens starter Josh Stauffer.
A bunt by Adam Stewart moved him to third.
Pinch-hitter Manuel Coke drove him home with a double.
Hrdlicka lasted just 3.2 innings, allowing three runs on four hits. He struck out three and walked four while throwing 97 pitched.
Carlos Hernandez got the final out of the fourth.
After that, three relievers covered the next seven innings while not allowing a run.
Chris Willett was first, going two innings.
Juan Munoz then retired nine straight batters over the next three innings.
Closer Tom Floria (1-0) pitched the 10th and 11th and earned his first win since becoming a Walker.

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MBL news: April 30 -- Week 4 - Awards and standings

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Record: 10-17, 5th/(Tied/w. Springfield), 6.5 GB Cedar Rapids
A two-out error by St. Louis second baseman Jose Roman opened the floodgates for a four-run bottom of the fifth inning, and that spring boarded Cedar Rapids to a 7-2 win at Connie Mack Stadium (1960).
River Walkers starter Juan Farias had gotten through the first four innings without allowing a run.
But when Ramon booted a ground ball hit by Lamar Black with two outs in the fifth, he unraveled.
Gary Hughes followed with a double, scoring Black.
Eric Gerhardt connected for a single, as Hughes crossed the plate making it 2-0.
Santos Villanueva then delivered the big blow hitting his seventh homer of the season, a two-run shot making it 4-0.
The Walkers got on the board in the top of the eighth on Manuel Coke's fifth homer of the season, a two-run blast off reliever Willie Mendoza.
But the Grapplers knocked around reliever Leo Hermosillo for three runs in the bottom half to break the game open.
Pinch-hitter Tim Jurgensen drove in two of the runs with a single.
A Black single scored Jurgensen making it 7-2.
Cedar Rapids starting pitcher Anton Melendez (1-1) went five scoreless innings, allowing three singles while striking out four and walking four.
After that, it was an inning apiece from Joe McClain, Edwin Rosa, Mendoza and Danny Huitron to close out the win.

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Walkers news: May 1 -- Players and Pitchers of the Month for April

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MBL news: May 1 -- Rookies of the Month for April and standings

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MBL news: May 1 -- American League leaders

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MBL news: May 1 -- National League leaders