2033 St. Louis River Walkers: And the saga continues

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Record: 44-34, 2nd, 1 GB Springfield
Brad Monroe pitched seven shutout innings and the St. Louis bullpen did the rest as the River Walkers downed Louisville 1-0 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Monroe (8-2) allowed three hits (two singles, one double) in his seven innings. He struck out 10 and didn't walk a batter.
Alex Rios pitched a scoreless eighth.
Craig Fritzler set the Sluggers down in order in the ninth for his 21st save.
The lone run of the game came in the bottom of the sixth
The Walkers' Bob Saavedra drew a one-out walk from former St. Louis starter Josh McDonald.
A balk by McDonald moved Saavedra to second.
Ryan Wibbenmeyer drove him home with a line drive double to left-center.

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Record: 45-34, 1st, (Tied/w. Springfield), 1.5 GA Cedar Rapids
Nick Shaw hit a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning off Louisville reliever Jesse McNaboe to give St. Louis a 7-4 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
Tom Floria opened the inning on the mound for the Sluggers, but exited after allowing a one-out single to Manuel Coke.
McNaboe, who was part of the St. Louis pitching rotation for parts of seven seasons, took over and got Mark Herman to fly out before giving up a single to Mark Waterson.
Shaw followed with his 11th home run of the season, parking a 3-2 pitch 405 feet over the wall in left center.
Much earlier, the Sluggers had jumped out to an early lead with Royce Lewis belted a three-run homer off River Walkers starting pitcher Xavier Wigfall in the top of the first.
When Lance Brown connected on an RBI single in the fifth off Wigfall, the Sluggers led 4-0.
But St. Louis got all of that back with a big bottom of the eighth.
The Walkers belted out four hits off reliever Matt Whitmore in that inning, none bigger than the three-run homer by Manuel Coke which tied the game.
Wigfall worked six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. He struck out seven and walked three.
St. Louis used six relievers to finish off the game.
Jesse Gaither (0.2 IP) and Ron Cox (0.1) combined to work a scoreless seventh.
After that, it was a scoreless inning each from Maximilliano Minella, Frank Jimenez, Alex Rios and Kyle Smarr.
Smarr (1-0) earned his first victory since joining the Walkers back on May 19.

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MBL news: July 1 -- Players and Pitchers of the Month for June

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

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MBL news: July 1 -- American League leaders

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MBL news: July 1 -- National League leaders

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Walkers news: July 1 -- Team statistics for June

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Walkers news: July 1 -- Season totals for 2038

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Player of the Month: Mark Herman: The 25-year-old batted .430 with five homers, 17 runs scored and 17 RBIs in 26 games. He slugged at a .688 clip and had an OBP of .518. Named NL Player of the Month.
Starting Pitcher of the Month: Brad Monroe: The 30-year-old went 5-1 in six starts with a 2.97 ERA. He pitched a total of 39.1 innings, during which he struck out 41 and had a 0.92 WHIP.
Relief Pitcher of the Month: Craig Fritzler: The 31-year-old closer got into 10 games during which he went 1-1 with seven saves. He pitched 11.0 innings, during which he struck out 20 and hand a 0.82 WHIP.

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Record: 45-35, 1st/(Tied/w. Springfield, 0.5 GA Cedar Rapids
John Bradley pitched into the seventh inning, limiting St. Louis to one run, and Louisville defeated the River Walkers 2-1 at Busch Stadium (2006).
The win allowed the Sluggers to salvage the finale of the three-game series.
Bradley (2-5) allowed one run on three hits. He struck out two and walked two.
That lone run came in the bottom of the seventh, with Louisville owning a 2-1 lead.
Manuel Coke led off with a double for the River Walkers.
Mark Herman then drew a one-out walk.
Mark Waterson singled with two outs to load the bases.
Bradley then exited the game.
Jesse McNaboe took over and allowed an RBI single to Mario Villa.
But McNaboe got pinch-hitter Jordan Quinto to hit into a double play to end the inning and keep the score 2-1.
Louisville jumped in front with a run in the top of the fourth against St. Louis starting pitcher Miguel Cisneros.
Bradley singled with two outs and scored when Chris Zoltan followed with a double.
Sean Nettles led off the sixth with a homer off Cisneros, making it 2-0.
McNaboe ended up pitching 1.2 innings, allowing three hits but not being charged with any runs.
Tom Floria set St. Louis down in order in the ninth for his fifth save.

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Record: 46-35, 1st/(Tied/w. Springfield), 0.5 GA Cedar Rapids
Abdul-Nasser bin Amr connected on a two-run single with two outs in the top of the 11th inning to help lift St. Louis to a 6-3 win over Des Moines at Green Canyon Park.
Tied 3-3, Manuel Coke opened the top of the 10th with a double off Harvesters reliever Dave Vacarri.
Mark Herman was then given an intentional walk.
A Mark Waterson single followed to fill the bases.
Vacarri struck out Nick Shaw and Zach Wenman to get to two outs.
But bin Amr lined a single to right to score a pair and put the River Walkers in front.
St. Louis wasn't done.
Pinch-hitter Danny Diaz followed with a single, scoring Waterson to make it 6-3.
All the scoring previous to the 10th came in the first three innings.
Coke hit a two-run homer off Des Moines starting pitcher Pat Walters in the top of the first putting his team ahead 2-0.
Willie Martinez tied it with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second off Walkers starter Ming Xiang.
Both teams scored single runs in the third.
Coke drove in Ryan Wibbenmeyer, who had walked, with a double off Walters.
Noah Smith led off the third with a single of Xiang.
He later scored on a wild pitch by Xiang with the bases loaded.
Xiang lasted seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He struck out six and walked one.
Kyle Smarr, Alex Rios and Craig Fritzler all followed with scoreless innings.
Rios (1-1) earned his first win as a Walker.
Fritzler notched his 22nd save.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have acquired left-handed relief pitcher Leo Hermosillo from the Chicago G-Men in exchange for left-handed relief pitcher Keith Kirby and minor-league outfielder Guillermo Sanchez.
Looking to bolster their bullpen which has been an issue all season, the Walkers had targeted Hermosillo.
The 32-year-old has pitched in 35 games this season for Chicago, going 3-1 with four saves and a 2.58 ERA.
In a career which dates back to 2029, Hermosillo has worked in 415 games going 38-37 with 59 saves and a 3.19 ERA.
Hermosillo spent seven seasons with Kansas City and two with Cleveland before joining Chicago before the start of the 2038 season.
He will be a free agent at the end of the 2038 season.
Signed in the offseason by St. Louis, Kirby had spent the previous six seasons with Cedar Rapids.
His 2037 season had been derailed by a fractured elbow in May, which led to the Grapplers deciding to let him become a free agent.
St. Louis took a chance that Kirby would regain his form, but it did not work out.
In 24 games with the Walkers, Kirby was 3-1 with one save but a 7.65 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP in 20.0 innings.
Sanchez, 23, is one of the best hitting prospects in the St. Louis system.
The problem is his defensive metrics make him look like a designated hitter in a league where there is no DH.
In 76 games at Memphis this season, Sanchez has hit .339 with 12 homers and 49 RBIs.

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Record: 47-35, 1st, 0.5 GA Cedar Rapids
Kevin Hrdlicka limited Des Moines to one run over the first seven innings, and St. Louis downed the Harvesters 6-1 at Green Canyon Park.
The lone run allowed by Hrdlicka was a second-inning home run by former Walker Marcos Francis, which gave Des Moines a 1-0 lead.
After that, he shut down the Harvesters for the next five innings.
For the game, Hrdlicka (7-7) allowed the one run on four hits. He struck out six and walked three.
Ron Cox handled a scoreless eighth for the River Walkers.
Jesse Gaither did the same in the ninth.
St. Louis took the lead with a pair of runs off Des Moines starter Raul Rivas in the top of the third.
Hrdlicka got it going with a one-out single.
Bob Saavedra moved Hrdlicka to third with another single.
Ryan Wibbenmeyer tied it with a fly ball to left.
Rivas then hit Manuel Coke with a pitch.
A single by Nick Shaw than made it 2-1 St. Louis.
Mark Waterson made it 3-1 in the top of the sixth with his first homer since coming off the injured list, a lead-off homer off Jerry Tate.
The Walkers added two more runs that inning on Danny Diaz's first homer since joining St. Louis in a trade with Toledo.
Tate also allowed that homer.
The Walkers got their final run in the sixth.
Zach Wenman scored it after drawing a lead-off walk from Teddy Loetzch.
Quinto moved Wenman to third with a double.
Hrdlicka picked up an RBI by scoring Wenman with a ground out.

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Record: 47-36, 1st/(Tied/w. Springfield), 0.5 GA Cedar Rapids
Jon Diaz shut out St. Louis over the first six innings and Des Moines jumped on River Walkers starter Brad Monroe for three runs in the bottom of the second inning, as the Harvesters avoided a three-game sweep with a 9-2 win at Green Canyon Park.
Diaz (7-6) allowed just one hit over the first six innings.
He did get in trouble in the seventh, allowing back-to-back solo homers to Ryan Wittenmeyer and Manuel Coke but by that time the Harvesters led 5-0.
For the game, Diaz allowed one run on three hits over 7.1 innings. He struck out six and walked one.
Dave Vacarri finished off the eighth for Des Moines.
Jerry Tate pitched a scoreless ninth.
Des Moines seized the lead in the bottom of the second against Monroe.
John Docherty led off with a single and scored on a David Tapley double.
Two batters later, Kyle Roberts smacked a two-run homer.
The Harvesters pushed their lead to 5-0 in the sixth, again against Monroe.
Monroe hurt himself with two walks, a wild pitch and a hit batter with the bases loaded.
Marcos Francis also drove in a run with a two-out single off Alex Rios.
The Harvesters would net another run in the seventh.
Diaz led off the inning with a single off Rios and scored on a Ryan Rivet single.
Pinch-hitter Jamie Sanders capped the scoring with a three-run homer off Maximilliano Minelli with two outs in the bottom of the eighth.

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Walkers news: July 4 -- Mid-season goal review from owner

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MBL news: July 4 -- All-Star game fan voting update

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MBL news: July 5 -- Week 13 - Awards and standings

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Record: 48-36, 1st/(Tied/w. Springfield), 1.5 GA Cedar Rapids
Xavier Wigfall shut out Madison over the first seven innings to lead St. Louis to a 5-3 win over Madison at Busch Stadium (2006).
Wigfall (5-5) allowed just two hits (one single, one double) in his time on the mound while striking out three and walking four.
The River Walkers did give up three runs late -- Jesse Gaither gave up one run in the eighth and closer Craig Fritzler gave up an uncharacteristic two in the ninth -- but by that time they led 5-0.
St. Louis jumped in front with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first.
Manuel Coke contributed the first with his 23rd homer of the season, a solo shot off Muskies starting pitcher Dakota Franc.
Mark Herman followed the homer with a single.
A Nick Shaw double drove home Herman.
The Walkers got their other three runs in the bottom of the eighth.
After Madison reliever Robert Chacon got a fly out to start the inning, St. Louis banged out three straight hits -- Ryan Wibbenmeyer and Mark Herman sandwiched doubled around a Coke single -- with Herman's hit scoring Wibbenmeyer.
Mark Waterson later connected on a two-out double to make it 5-1.
Gaither gave up a lead-off double to Angel Solis in the top of the eighth for the Muskies.
He scored on a John McCaskey double.
Pitching in a non-save situation, Fritzler struggled allowing three straight batters to reach base with one out.
Nelson Becerra had a two-run double in that grouping.
But Fritzler retired the next two to end the game.

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Record: 48-37, 1st/(Tied/w. Springfield), 0.5 GA Cedar Rapids
Down 2-1 after five innings, Madison put together two huge outbursts scoring five runs in the sixth and six in the ninth to down St. Louis 13-6 at Busch Stadium (2006).
River Walkers starter Miguel Cisneros sustained the bulk of the damage in the Muskies' big sixth inning.
He retired the lead-off batter but then saw five consecutive batters reach base.
That included a two-run single by pinch-hitter Anthony Ward and an RBI single by Kevin Mililtello.
Jesse Gaither replaced Cisneros after the Militello single but could not stop the bleeding.
After a fly out, Mike Laskey connected on a double to score two more runs.
Madison ninth-inning explosion came against the River Walkers' bullpen.
Angel Solis drew a lead-off walk from Maximilliano Minelli to open the inning.
Ron Cox then took over after a strike out, allowed a single and a walk to load the bases.
Alex Rios then got the ball, and that's when the fun began.
Dan Hillard doubled to score two.
Tyler Hamilton was given an intentional walk.
Rios then threw a wild pitch, leading for an intentional walk for Militello.
John McCaskey then connected on a single to score two,
Laskey plated the inning's final run with a double.
Madison starting pitcher Alex Ochoa (3-6) worked seven innings, allowing four runs on six hits. He struck out two and walked one.
Ben Johnson and Brian Stewart finished the game with scoreless innings.

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Record: 48-38, 3rd, 1 GB Springfield
For the second consecutive game, Madison put up double-digit runs on St. Louis scoring 10 runs on 19 hits in a 10-6 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
The victory was the second in a row for the Muskies who claimed the three-game series.
Madison jumped out to a 3-0 lead against River Walkers starting pitcher Ming Xiang over the first 3.5 innings.
But after five innings, it was tied 5-5.
For the second game in a row, St. Louis got burned by its bullpen.
The Muskies took the lead with a run in the top of the seventh.
Tyler Hamilton led off with a double off Frank Jimenez and scored when Trent Rowan singled off Alex Rios.
An inning later, Madison busted it open with four more runs.
Rios gave up three straight singles -- to Mike Laskey, Zach Ebert and Angel Solis -- to open the inning/
Out of right-handed relievers after a 13-6 loss the day before, the Walkers were forced to use lefties against a right-handed hitting lineup.
They paid the price.
Leo Hermosillo acquired via trade earlier in the week, was greeted by an RBI single by Mark Holland.
Hermosillo retired the next two batters, but Dan Hillard tripled with two outs to make it 10-5.
Madison starting pitcher Danny Wright lasted just 4.1 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits. He walked a batter and had no strikeouts.
Marshall Hornby finished the fifth for the Muskies.
After that, it was an inning each for Luis Bahena, Ben Johnson, Brian Stewart and Marshall Larcombe,
Bahena (3-0) earned the win.
Larcombe notched his 11th save.