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Record: 60-41, 2nd. 2.5 GB Des Moines
Yu Darvish's first start with St. Louis got off to an inauspicious beginning when Quad City lead-off hitter Alfred Alford hit the second pitch he saw over the left-field wall, and it didn't get much better from there as the Thunder downed the River Walkers 8-5 at Busch Stadium (1997).
Darvish lasted 5.1 innings allowing six runs on seven hits, including three homers. He struck out six batters, walked three and also hit one batter.
Down 2-1, the Thunder took the lead for good with a three-run top of the fourth.
Alford drove in the first two runs with a single. Orlando Arcia followed with another single, which plated a pair.

Quad City chased Darvish in the top of the sixth inning, when two of the first three batters homered. Will Myers led off the inning with his 15th long ball of the season. After an out, Blake Rutherford launched his ninth homer.
The two solo shots put Quad City up 6-3.
Russell Martin hit a two-run homer off Chaz Roe in the seventh, pushing it to 8-3.
Thunder starting pitcher Matt Ruppenthal allowed three runs over five innings and earned his third win of the season.
Six relievers -- J.D. Hammer (0.1 IP), Sam Holland (0.2), Hyun-Jin Ryu (1.0), Jesse Hahn (0.2), Ryan Buchter (0.1) and Craig Kimbrel (1.0) -- followed him to the mound to close out the game.
Kimbrel earned his 17th save of the season.