2033 St. Louis River Walkers: And the saga continues

[rink23]

Record: 12-8, 3rd, 2.5 GB Springfield
Miguel Cisneros pitched eight innings of shut-out ball and Jose Tapia sent Cedar Rapids down in order in the ninth as St. Louis downed the Grapplers 7-0 at Busch Stadium (2006).
The only hit Cisneros allowed was a lead-off single to Dane Finch in the top of the fourth inning.
Cisneros (2-0) struck out seven and walked two.
The River Walkers seized control early with a three-run bottom of the first inning against Grapplers starting pitcher Edwin Rivera.
Bob Saavedra led off the inning with a double.
Rivera retired the next two before walking Mark Herman.
Nick Shaw then made it 1-0 with a single to center.
Mark Waterson pushed it to 3-0 with a double to right-center.
St. Louis went up 5-0 in the fifth, Herman hitting his fourth homer of the season, a two-run shot off Rivera.
The Walkers got their final two runs in the sixth.
Abdul-Nasser bin Amr drove in the first run with a single off Jordyn Ibarra.
The second scored on an error by third baseman Matt Thurston on a ball hit by Cisneros

[rink23]

Record: 12-9, 3rd, 2.5 GB Springfield
Cedar Rapids scored four times in the top of the 10th inning to defeat St. Louis 8-5 at Busch Stadium (2006).
The win gave the Grapplers wins in two of three games in the series.
River Walkers reliever Greg Sones took the mound to start the 10th and failed to retire any of the three batters he faced.
Eric Gerhardt immediately untied the 4-4 game when he hit an 0-1 pitch from Sones 378 feet over the right-field wall to untie the game.
David Henderson followed with a single.
A passed ball with Armond Hammond at the plate moved Henderson to third.
He scored when Hammond reached on a throwing error by third baseman Bob Saavedra.
Bobby Westerman replaced Sones.
He wasn't much better.
Westerman got Santos Villanuea to ground out for the second out.
But the next to hitters, Miguel Mena and pitcher Hector Miro, both singled to drive in runs and make it 8-4.
The Walkers did get an unearned run against Miro in the bottom of the 10th.
A two-run homer from Jose Morillo in the top of the first off Walkers starting pitcher Ming Xiang helped the Grapplers jumped out to a 3-0 lead.
Down 4-1, the River Walkers pulled to within 4-3 in the bottom of the eighth on Mark Waterson's fifth homer of the season, off Jim Coke, a two-run homer.
St. Louis tied it in the bottom of the ninth against Miro.
Pinch-hitter Jordan Quinto led off with a walk.
He scored on a two-out double by Manuel Coke.
Grapplers starter Jake Richardson lasted 4.2 innings, allowing one run on seven hits. He struck out five and walked two.
Justin Sterner finished the fifth and got the first two outs of the sixth for Cedar Rapids.
Anton Melendez retired the only batter he faced to finish the sixth.
Antonio Echevaria worked a silent seventh before Jim Cole gave up two runs in the eighth.
Miro (3-1) blew a save but got the win when the Grapplers scored four times in the 10th.

[rink23]

The St. Louis River Walkers have sent left-handed relief pitcher Greg Sones to AAA Memphis and called up 26-year-old lefty Frank Jimenez from the Redbirds.
The start of the 2038 season has been a struggle for the 29-year-old Sones, in nine appearances he has given up nine earned runs in just 4.2 innings for a 17.36 ERA.
He is boasting a 3.21 WHIP and has walked five batters.
Sones has been with the Walkers since the 2034 season.
He has pitched in 205 games going 12-13 with 11 saves and a 3.47 ERA.
Jimenez was a scouting discovery by the Walkers in February of 2030.
He has pitched in six games at Memphis this season, going 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA.
He played the entire 2037 season at AA Springfield and pitched in 45 games. He owned a 7-6 record with 12 saves and a 3.91 ERA.

[rink23]

Record: 13-9, 3rd, 2.5 GB Springfield
Zach Wenman hit a two-run home run, his first regular-season homer since the 2035 season to highlight a three-run bottom of the fourth inning to help St. Louis defeat Dayton 4-2 at Busch Stadium (2006).
The Pilots jumped on River Walkers starter Kevin Hrdlicka for a pair of runs in the top of the first.
Hrdlicka, who has had a rough first month of the season, hurt himself by walking the lead-off batter Steve Carroll and then hitting Matt Freudenberg with a pitch.
He struck out the next two but Bobby Carrasco came through with a double to score both.
All of the St. Louis runs in the bottom of the fourth came with two outs off Dayton starting pitcher Marty Benitez.
Wen He got it going with a two-out single.
Wenman followed with his homer, driving a 0-1 pitch 382 feet over the wall in left field.
The Walkers were not done as Jordan Quinto followed with a triple.
Alex Nunez was intentionally walked but Hrdlicka foiled that strategy with an RBI single.
St. Louis added an insurance run in the eighth.
Manuel Coke led off with a single off reliever Elvis Pool, who was recently released by the Walkers.
Nick Shaw moved Coke to third with a double.
Quinto picked up his second RBI of the game with a single.
After the rough start, Hrdlicka breezed through the next four innings before getting in trouble to start the sixth.
Luis Aguilar led off with a single and Bobby Carrasco was hit by a pitch to put two on with no outs.
Jesse Gaither took over and got out of it by getting Mike Casebolt to hit into a double play.
Carlos Longoria then struck out.
Hrdlicka (1-3) finished the game with a line of two runs on four hits in five innings. He struck out eight and walked two.
Gaither followed up his strong sixth inning with a 1-2-3 seventh.
Keith Kirby did the same in the eighth.
Craig Fritzler collected his sixth save in the ninth.
St. Louis retired the final 12 Dayton batters of the game in order.

[rink23]

Record: 14-9, 3rd, 2.5 GB Springfield
Tied 1-1, St. Louis opened the bottom of the ninth inning with three consecutive singles -- from pinch-hitter Jim Moorman, Bob Saavedra and Ryan Wibbenmeyer off Dayton relief pitcher Michele Vassalotti -- and the next batter, Mark Herman, won it with a fly ball to left as the River Walkers defeated the Pilots 2-1 at Busch Stadium (2006).
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when the Walkers' Mark Herman hit his fourth homer of the year off Dayton starter Brian Budd.
The Pilots tied it in the top of the fifth.
It all happened with two outs beginning with Walkers starter Brad Monroe hitting Mark Dow with a pitch.
A wild pitch moved Dow to second, and he scored on a Terry Phillips single.
Monroe pitched into the seventh, going 6.0 innings total, allowing the one run on four hits. He struck out three and didn't walk a batter.
Brett McVey got out of a two on and nobody out situation in the seventh and also recorded the first two outs of the eighth.
Ron Cox (1-0) earned the win. He finished the eighth and also held the Pilots scoreless in the ninth.

[rink23]

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

[rink23]

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

[rink23]

MBL news: May 1 -- American League leaders

[rink23]

MBL news: May 1 -- National League leaders

[rink23]

Walkers news: May 1 -- Team statistics for April

[rink23]

Player of the Month: Mark Herman -- The 25-year-old left fielder batted .341 with five homers, 14 RBIs, and 15 runs scored in 23 games. He got on base at a .406 clip and had a .612 slugging percentage.
Starting Pitcher of the Month: Ming Xiang -- The 26-year-old right-hander went 4-0 in five starts with a 2.81 ERA. He pitched 32.0 innings, during which he struck out 22 and had a 1.16 WHIP.
Relief Pitcher of the Month: Craig Fritzler -- The Walkers' big acquisition of the offseason got into 10 games during which he went 0-0 with six saves and a 0.79 ERA. He pitched a total of 11.1 innings, during which he struck out 15 and had a 0.53 WHIP.

[rink23]

Walkers news: May 1 -- Player Development Report

[rink23]

Record: 15-9, 3rd, 2.5 GB Springfield
Mark Waterson homered twice and drove in the game-winning run with a two-out single in the bottom of the eighth inning single as St. Louis downed Dayton 7-6 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Waterson's game-winning single came off Pilots relief pitcher Valentin Pino and gave him three RBIs for the game.
Ryan Wibbenmeyer scored the game-winning run after he singled with one out off Travis Rice.
A two-out walk to Mark Herman moved Wibbenmeyer to second.
Pino then replaced Rice.
Waterson's game-winning hit came on a 2-2 count.
The Walkers hit five homers in the game yet found themselves trailing 6-4 after Dayton scored four times in the top of the sixth.
Josh Knutson led off the inning with a double off St. Louis starting pitcher Xavier Wigfall.
Keith Kirby replaced Wigfall but failed to get much done.
He walked Doug Brinton before giving up an RBI double to Bobby Carrasco.
Matt Freudenberg then drew another walk from Kirby.
A wild pitch with Luis Aguilar at the plate scored Carrasco to tie it 4-4.
Aguilar then put the Pilots ahead with a deep fly ball to center.
Jesse Gaither replaced Kirby only to be greeted by a Carlos Longoria single.
Terry Phillps then made it 6-4 with the second sacrifice fly of the inning.
The Walkers got first inning homers from Herman (a two-run shot) and Waterson (a solo homer) off Dayton starting pitcher Enrique Tijerino to go up 3-0.
Bob Saavedra hit his first homer of the season, also off Tijerino, in the leading off the third to make it 4-0.
Waterson hit his second homer of the game in the bottom of the seventh off Rice.
Jackson Miller went deep in the same inning, also off Rice, to tie it 6-6.
Wigfall went five innings, allowing three runs on two hits. He struck out out four but walked three.
Kirby only lasted a third of an inning and was charged with three runs.
Gaither went 1.1 innings before being relieved by rookie lefty Frank Jimenez who retired the only batter he faced in his major league debut.
Ron Cox (2-0) set the Pilots down in order in the eighth and would earn the win.
Closer Craig Fritzler did the same in the ninth for his seventh save.

[rink23]

Record: 16-9, 3rd, 2.5 GB Springfield
Tied 2-2, Manuel Coke hit a two-out home run in the bottom of the eighth inning off Dayton relief pitcher Clyde Rayner to help lift the St. Louis to a 3-2 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
The victory gave the River Walkers a sweep of the four-game series.
Coke's fifth home run of the season came on a 2-1 pitch. It traveled 392 feet over the right-field wall.
The Pilots had tied it in the top of the seventh.
River Walkers starting pitcher Miguel Cisenros walked Bobby Carrasco to open the inning and Alex Richards followed with a double.
Bobby Westerman relieved Cisneros.
He struck out Luis Aguilar for the first out but hit Mike Casebolt to load the bases.
Carlos Longoria then connected on a fly ball deep enough to center to score Carrasco and tie the game.
Cisneros went six innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He struck out four and walked one.
Westerman pitched the one inning.
Brett McVey and Keith Kirby combined to pitch the eighth inning, holding Dayton scoreless.
Kirby (3-0) would net the win.
Fritzler increased his save total to eight.

[rink23]

MBL news: May 3 -- Week 4 - Awards and standings

[rink23]

Record: 16-10, 3rd, 3.5 GB Springfield
Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Kansas City's Nick Kline led off with a double off St. Louis starting pitcher Ming Xiang and scored on a one-out Josh Shuler double to help give the Monarchs a 3-2 win at Kauffman Stadium.
KC jumped on Xiang for two runs in the bottom of the first inning.
Nick Jernigan drove in the first run with a double.
Jordan Grullon plated the other with a two-out single.
The Walkers tied it in the top of the next inning.
Bob Saavedra hitting a two-run double off Monarchs starter Jose Buenrostro.
Buenrostro (2-1) went 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on eight hits. He struck out one and walked two.
Four relievers combined to shutout St. Louis the rest of the way.
Willie Mendoza finished the sixth and worked a scoreless seventh.
Jose Patricio handled the eighth.
Mario Salmerson took over of the ninth -- and got a big assist from Grullon in center field who threw out Savadera when he tried to score from first on a Manuel Coke double -- and kept it 3-2 to earn his first save.

[rink23]

Record: 16-11, 3rd, 4.5 GB Springfield
Kansas City roughed up St. Louis starting pitcher Kevin Hrdlicka for five runs in the bottom of the first inning and the Monarchs went on for a 7-5 win at Kauffman Stadium.
Beginning with a lead-off single by Nick Kline, KC saw six of its first seven batters reach base against Hrdlicka.
Alejandro Crespo followed Kline's single with a double.
Josh Shuler then connected on another double making it 2-0.
Amari Simpson plated two more runs with a bases-loaded single.
Kline drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs to make it 5-0.
The River Walkers climbed back into it with three runs off Monarchs starting pitcher Alexis Yanez in the top of the fifth.
Pinch-hitter Jordan Quinto and Mark Herman both drove in runs with doubles.
A RBI single by Manuel Coke made it 5-3.
KC got two of those runs back in the fifth against the St. Louis bullpen.
Jesse Gathier hit Jordan Grullon with a pitch to start the inning.
However, he retired the next two before giving up a single to pinch-hitter Eric Marion to put runners at first and third.
Jose Tapia replaced Gaither.
He wasn't good.
Kline greeted him with a single.
Crespo then scored Marion with a double.
St. Louis did make it interesting.
Mark Waterson led off the eighth with his eighth homer of the season, it came off Jeremy Bangs, to slice the deficit to 7-4.
Alex Nunez led off the ninth with a double off Omar Moreno.
He later scored on a two-out single by Coke.
A single by Nick Shaw put runners at first and second.
Mario Salmeron came into the game and struck out Waterson to end it.
Yanez (4-2), who earned the win, worked five innings, allowing three runs on six hits He struck out five and walked one.
Nate Wilson, Willie Mendoza and Bangs all pitched an inning.
Wilson's and Mendoza's were scoreless.
Moreno (0.2) and Salmeron (0.1) handled the ninth.
Salmeron posted his second save.

[rink23]

Record: 17-11, 1st, 4.5 GB Springfield
Brad Monroe limited Kansas City to one run on four hits over six innings to earn his second win of the season and St. Louis avoided a three-game sweep with a 5-1 win over the Monarchs at Kauffman Stadium.
The only run Monroe allowed was on a homer by Jose Sotelo in the bottom of the third which put KC ahead 1-0.
The River Walkers grabbed the lead in the top of the next half inning on a two-run homer by Mark Waterson off Monarchs starter Andy Caruthers.
It was Waterson's ninth home run of the season.
St. Louis added two more run in the seventh against the Monarchs bullpen.
Nate Wilson walked the first two batters of the inning before retiring the next two.
Jose Patricio replaced Wilson and gave up RBI singles to Bob Saavedra and Ryan Wibbenmeyer.
An error by KC first baseman Nick Kline with Mark Herman at the plate to lead off the eighth led to the game's final run.
A walk and hit by pitch by Patricio soon loaded the bases.
Abdul-Nasser bin Amr scored Herman with a fly ball to left.
Back to Monroe (2-0), he allowed the one run on four hits in six innings. He struck out five and didn't walk a batter.
Bobby Westerman worked a scoreless seventh.
Ron Cox kept the Monarchs off the board in the eighth and ninth.

[rink23]

Record: 17-12, 3rd, 5.5 GB Springfield
Kerry Fackelman went 4 for 4 with two runs scored and an RBI to help lead Columbus to a 6-2 win over St. Louis at Forbes Field (1959).
Fackelman, who sat out the 2037 season after failing to find a free-agent deal, made an impact in the opening inning with a one-out single off River Walkers starting pitcher Xavier Wigfall.
He later scored on a two-out homer by Neil Assenjberg.
Their lead now at 2-1, Fackelman played a role in a two-run third for the Golden Bears.
Again, facing Wigfall Edgar Salas singled with one out and Fackelman followed with another single.
Matt Crawl scored them both with a double.
Its lead at 4-2. Fackelman also played a role in the two-run fifth.
With Wigfall still on the mound, pitcher Frank Garcia led off the inning by reaching on an error by third baseman Bob Saavedra.
Salas followed with a single putting runners at the corners.
Fackelman scored Garcia with a double.
Wigfall got Crawl to fly out before giving an intentional walk to Assenjberg to load the bases.
Wigfall followed that with another walk to Schneider to make it 6-2.
Bears starter Dae-ki Jung lasted just three innings, allowing one run on two hits, before leaving the game because of a blister.
Jung struck out two and didn't walked a batter.
Garcia (3-0) earned the win by getting the game into the sixth with one out.
Pat Borgen finished the sixth for the Bears.
fter that it was a scoreless inning apiece for former Walker Scott Rissler, Jorge Ariza and George McCardel to finish off the win.

[rink23]

Record: 18-12, 3rd, 4.5 GB Springfield
Miguel Cisneros pitched 5.2 scoreless innings and the St. Louis bullpen did the rest as the River Walkers defeated Columbus 4-0 at Forbes Field (1959).
Cisneros (3-0) scattered five hits -- four singles and a double -- during his time on the mound. He struck out four and walked on.
The right-hander left the game after allowing a pair of singles in the sixth.
Rookie Frank Jimenez came on with runners on second and third and got Neil Assenjberg to fly out and keep the score 1-0.
The Walkers had taken that lead in the top of the first against Golden Bears starter Chrs D'Alessandro.
Bob Saavedra led off the game with a double and moved to third on a Ruyan Wibbenmeyer single.
Saavedra scored when Manuel Coke hit into a double play.
Coke hit a solo homer off Columbus reliever George McCardell to lead off the seventh and put St. Louis ahead 2-0.
The Walkers added their final two runs against Evan Palmer in the eighth.
Wibbenmeyer collected an RBI with a single.
Coke drove in his second run with a single.
Brett McVey pitched a scoreless seventh for St. Louis.
Keith Kirby handed the eighth and got the first out of the ninth.
Jesse Gaither retired the only two batters he faced for his first save of the season.