2033 St. Louis River Walkers: And the saga continues

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Record: 69-51, 2nd, 3.5 GB Springfield
St. Louis Zach Wenman scored on a wild pitch by Evansville's Dan Bouwman with one out in the top of the 10th inning and help lift St. Louis to a 5-4 win over Evansville at Yankee Stadium (1988).
Bosses relief pitcher Andy Durivage struck out Alex Nunez to open the inning.
He was then replaced by Dan Bouwman who gave up a single to Zach Wenman.
Daylen Reyes then drew a walk.
Quinto followed that with a single to load the bases.
Bouwman struck out Bob Saavedra for the second out.
But Bouwman's first pitch to Ryan Wibbenmeyer eluded catcher Alex Boychuk which allowed Wenman to score what would be the winning run.
St. Louis jumped out to a 2-0 lead and owned a 2-1 advantage when Jeff Waldron hit a three-run homer off River Walkers starting pitcher Kevin Hrdlicka in the bottom of the sixth to give the Bosses a 4-2 advantage
A pair of runs in the top of the eighth allowed the St. Louis to even the score.
After retiring the inning's first batter., Bosses reliever Jeremy Kriech allowed a pair of singles before hitting Mark Waterson with a pitch to load the bases.
Wenman then drew the second walk of the inning forcing in a run.
Shaw then scored the tying run when Daylen Reyes reached on an error by third baseman Jaime Mora.
Hrdlicka went seven innings for a St. Louis team which is dealing with an overworked bullpen.
He allowed four runs on three hits. He struck out three and walked three.
Frank Jimenez, Kyle Smarr and Jaime Gaither all worked scoreless innings of relief.
Smarr (2-0) earned his second win of the season.
Gaither got his second save.
The Walkers did suffer two injuries during the game.
Waterson left after being hit by the pitch in the seventh.
A diagnosis is pending.
Jimenez is dealing with a hamstring strain after a throwing scoreless seventh inning.
It is expected to sideline him for four days.

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Record: 70-51, 2nd, 3.5 GB Springfield
St. Louis took control by scoring six runs in the top of the second inning -- capped by a three-run homer by Mark Herman, the first of his two home runs in the game -- as the River Walkers routed Evansville 11-3 at Yankee Stadium (1988).
St. Louis sent nine batters to the plate in the top of the second.
Herman's homer off Bosses starting pitcher Travis Rinker plated the final three runs.
Before that, Jordan Quinto, Daylen Reyes and Ryan Wibbenmeyer all had RBI singles.
It's lead at 6-2, the Walkers added three runs in the top of the sixth,
Nick Shaw plated a pair with a single off Josh Anderson.
Jackson Miller made it 9-2 with a run-scoring single.
A two-run homer from Herman in the seventh off Dan Bouwman made it 11-2.
Xiang (11-5) went eight innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He struck out seven and didn't issue a walk.
Left-hander Greg Sones pitched in the majors for the first time since June 2.
He wasn't very good in the short sample, allowing three straight hits and a run.
It didn't matter as the game was already wrapped up.

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Record: 71-51, 2nd, 2.5 GB Springfield
Tied 3-3, Manuel Coke led off the top of the sixth inning with a solo home run off Evansville starting pitcher Ray Pocock lifting St. Louis to a 4-3 win and a four-game sweep of the Bosses at Yankee Stadium (1988).
Both teams had three-run innings to set up the 3-3 tie.
The River Walkers pulled it off in the top of the fourth.
Evansville did in the bottom of the fifth, Sam Muszynski driving in the final two runs with a homer of St. Louis starter Brad Monroe.
Monroe (11-4) still earned his 11th win of the season by allowing three runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings. He struck out six and walked three.
Jesse Gaither got the final two outs of the sixth.
After that, it was a scoreless inning apiece from Juan Munoz, Leo Hermosillo and Craig Fritzler to close out the win.
The save was the 30th of the season for Fritzler.

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MBL news: August 23 -- Week 19 - Awards and standings

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Record: 72-51, 2nd, 2 GB Springfield
Miguel Cisneros limited Cedar Rapids to two runs over the first seven innings and St. Louis got homers from Miguel Coke, Ryan Wibbenmeyer and Nick Shaw as it defeated Cedar Rapids 6-2 at Busch Stadium (2006).
The win was the fifth in a row for the River Walkers.
Coke put St. Louis in front 2-0 with a two-run homer off Grapplers starting pitcher Joel Glenn in the bottom of the first inning.
Their lead sliced to 2-1, the Walkers added two more runs off Glenn in the bottom of the fourth.
Alex Nunez drove in the first with a single.
Daylen Reyes plated the second with a double, both coming with two outs.
Solo homers from Wibbenmeyer, off Glenn, and Shaw, off Anton Melendez, in the fifth capped the scoring for St. Louis.
Cisneros (8-5) allowed two runs on five hits in seven innings. He struck out five and walked four.
Brett McVey and Greg Sones both provided scoreless innings in relief.

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Record: 73-51, 2nd, 2 GB Springfield
Trailing 7-4, St. Louis exploded for eight runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and went on to defeat Cedar Rapids 12-7 for their sixth consecutive win at Busch Stadium (2006).
A three-run first-inning homer from Manuel Coke, off Grapplers starting pitcher Hector Miro, staked the River Walkers to an early 3-0 lead.
But that didn't hold up.
Cedar Rapids tallied three times in the fourth off St. Louis starter Xavier Wigfall -- Miro drove in two of the runs with a single -- and two more times in the fifth to take a 5-3 lead.
A two-run single from Miguel Mato off reliever Juan Munoz later gave the Grapplers a 7-4 advantage.
Then came the bottom of the eighth.
St. Louis sent 12 batters to the plate against two pitchers.
It scored the eight runs on eight hits.
The Walkers also benefited from a walk and a wild pitch.
They opened the inning by putting their first five batters on base against Michele Vassalotti.
Nick Shaw had a RBI single in that grouping, while Jordan Quinto plated a pair with a double.
Mike Gill took over and was no batter, allowing singles to the first three batters he faced.
Bob Saavedra and Ryan Wibbenmeyer both drove in runs with their singles.
After run scored on a wild pitch, Danny Diaz scored a pair with another single and made it 12-7.
Wigfall lasted just 4.1 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits. He struck out four and walked three.
Brett McVey finished the fifth and worked a scoreless sixth.
Kyle Smarr got all three outs in the seventh.
Munoz (0.1 IP) and Jesse Gaither (0.2) combined to pitch the eighth when the Grapplers scored their final two runs.
Greg Sones took care of the ninth without incident.

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Record: 73-52, 2nd, 2 GB Springfield
Santos Villanueva staked Cedar Rapids to a 4-0 lead with a first-inning grand slam and Grapplers starting pitcher Jordyn Ibarra and their bullpen held St. Louis pretty much in check, as they posted a 4-1 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
The victory allowed the Grapplers to salvage the finale of the three-game series. It also ended a six-game win streak for the River Walkers.
Once again, when St. Louis starting pitcher Kevin Hrdlicka runs into trouble it usually come early.
This time, it began when lead-off hitter Mark Hill reached on an error by third baseman Bob Saavedra.
Jose Morillo followed with a double.
A walk to Eric Gerhardt loaded the bases.
Hrdlicka struck out both Tim Jurgensen and David Henderson.
But he could not close the deal as Santos hit a 1-1 pitch 396 feet over the wall in right for a slam.
Ibarra (3-1), who was making his first start of the season, allowed one run on seven hits over the first five innings. He struck out five and didn't issue a walk.
Michele Vassalotti, Justin Sterner, Jim Cole and Antonio Echevaria all followed with scoreless innings.
Echevaria earned his second save.

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Record: 73-53, 2nd, 3.5 GB Springfield
Tied 3-3 with two outs in the top of the 11th inning, Des Moines' Ziga Mukuru doubled and Justin Oates followed with an RBI single off St. Louis closer Craig Fritzler to lift the Harvesters to a 4-3 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
Fritzler, who already had pitched a scoreless 10th, struck out the first two batters in the 11th.
But Mukuru doubled down the first-base line on a 1-1 pitch.
Oates followed by dropping a fly ball into center to score Mukuru with the winning run.
The River Walkers had scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the third off Des Moines starting pitcher Josh Crespo -- pitcher Ming Xiang led off the inning with a single. He scored on a Ryan Wibbenmeyer triple. Manuel Coke drove in Wibbenmeyer with a fly ball to center -- to go up 3-1.
The Harvesters evened it up with single runs in the sixth and seventh, both off Xiang.
Leo Cerna connected on a two-out triple in the sixth to give the Harvesters their second run.
Fernando Mendoza evened matters with a lead-off homer in the seventh.
Crespo worked 5.2 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits. He struck out two and walked one.
Former Walkers pitcher Jerry Tate finished the sixth and worked a scoreless seventh.
Davey Matteson and Bill Gomez both worked innings without allowing a run.
The win went to Mark Polzin (1-7), who pitched the 10th and 11th without allowing a base runner.

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Record: 74-53, 2nd, 3.5 GB Springfield
Brad Monroe tossed his first career shutout silencing Des Moines on five hits as St. Louis downed the Harvesters 3-0 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Monroe (12-4), who the Walkers acquired in an off-season trade with Peoria, earned his team-high 12th win of the season while allowing no runs on five hits -- four singles and a double -- in addition to striking out 12 and walking two.
Mark Herman gave Monroe an early cushion when he hit a two-run home run off Harvesters starting pitcher Raul Rivas in the bottom of the first.
The game's only other run came in the fifth when Bob Saavedra reached on a two-out error by catcher Zigza Mukuru and later scored on a Ryan Wibbenmeyer single.

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Record: 74-54, 2nd, 4.5 GB Springfield
Tied 2-2, Noah Smith led off the top of the fifth inning with a single off St. Louis starting pitcher Miguel Cisneros, he later scored when Ryan Rivet hit into a double play providing the winning run in the Harvesters' 3-2 victory at Busch Stadium (2006).
The win allowed Des Moines to take two of three games in the series.
After Smith singled, he stole second and then moved to third on a Joe Allen single.
That put him into position to score when Rivet hit into a double play.
The Harvesters got their first two runs in the top of the first when Allen homered off Cisneros.
The River Walkers tied it with single tallies in the bottom of the second and fourth off Des Moines starting pitcher Jason Dexheimer.
A Jordan Qunto homer provided the tying run.
Dexheimer didn't last long enough to earn the win, allowing two runs on three hits over the first 4.2 innings. He struck out four and walked three..
The win went to Bobby Stover (2-1), who finished the fifth and worked a scoreless sixth.
Teddy Loetzch pitched the seventh and got the first two outs of the eighth.
Davey Mattson recorded the final out of the eighth.
Mark Polzin walked two but didn't allow a run in the ninth for his 27th save.

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MBL news: August 30 -- Week 20 -- Awards and standings

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Record: 74-55, 2nd, 4.5 GB Springfield
Green Bay jumped on St. Louis starting pitcher Xavier Wigfall for four runs before he could record an out and the Mallards rode that to a 5-2 win at PNC Park.
The tone for Wigfall's short outing was set on the very first pitch as he hit Green Bay lead-off hitter Johnny Castagnozzi.
CJ Abrams followed with a single.
Blaze Jordan then made it 1-0 with a double.
Devon Reyna upped it to 2-0 with a single.
After Austin Clayton drew a walk to load the bases, Wigfall's day was done.
Ron Cox took over.
It didn't go much better as he walked Sal Valdez, making it 3-0.
Phillip Clarke drove in the inning's final run with a one-out fly ball to right.
Mallards starter Bryan Sharpe went five innings, allowing one run on three hits. He struck out one and walked one.
Three relievers, Jeff Hoffman (1.0 IP), Nate Guthrie (2.0) and Matt Rodriuez (1.0) combined to finish the game.
Rodriguez notched his 29th save.

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Record: 75-55, 2nd, 4.5 GB Springfield
Kevin Hrdlicka took a shutout two outs into the eighth inning to help lead St. Louis to a 4-0 win over Green Bay at PNC Park.
Hrdlicka allowed just two hits over the first eight innings.
He exited the game after allowing a two-out single to Johnny Castagnozzi on his 106th pitch of the game.
Overall, Hrdlicka (12-9) allowed the two hits while striking out 11 and walking three.
Leo Hermosillo got the final out of the eighth inning.
Closer Craig Fritzler set the Mallards down in order in the ninth in a non-save situation.
A solo homer from Ryan Wibbenmeyer off Green Bay starting pitcher Matt Wilson to open the top of the fourth gave the River Walkers the only run they would really need.
St. Louis made it 2-0 in the sixth when with two outs.
Coke singled off Wilson.
He moved to second when Danny Diaz drew a walk.
Bob Saavedra drove Coke home with a single.
Diaz capped the scoring with a two-run homer off David Bergeron in the eighth.

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MBL news: Sept. 1 -- Players and Pitchers of the Month for August

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MBL news: Sept. 1 -- Rookies of the Month for August and standings

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MBL news: Sept. 1 -- American League leaders

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MBL news: Sept. 1 -- National League leaders

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Walkers news: Sept. 1 -- Team statistics for August

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Walkers news: Sept. 1 -- Team statistics for 2038 season

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Player of the Month: Manuel Coke -- The 25-year-old right fielder was named NL Player of the Month after he hit .358 with six homers, 23 RBIs and 21 runs scored in 28 games. He got on base at a .396 clip and slugged .615.
Starting Pitcher of the Month: Kevin Hrdlicka -- The 26-year-old right-hander was 3-1 in six starts with a 2.52 ERA over 39.1 innings. He struck out 53 and had a 0.89 WHIP. On August 9, he pitched a no-hitter in a 9-0 win over Kansas City.
Relief Pitcher of the Month: Leo Hermosillo - Acquired just before the trade deadline, Hermosillo pitched in 11 games going 1-1 with one save and a 0.00 ERA. He pitched a total of 10.1 innings, during which he struck out 14 and had a 0.58 WHIP.