2032 St. Louis River Walkers -- Growing weary of just coming close

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Record: 67-46, 2nd, 3.5 GB Des Moines
Jose Ramirez and Alex Greene led off the bottom of the 13th innings with back-to-back doubles to provide the game-winning run as St. Louis completed a three-game sweep of Quad City with a 4-3 win at Busch Stadium (1997).
Reliever Rick Sessions was on the mound for both the doubles.
Ramirez hit a line drive into the gap in right-center.
Greene's came to straight-away center, both were on a 1-1 pitch.
All of the rest of the scoring came early.
The River Walkers' Nick Scott started a three-run bottom of the fourth with a solo homer off Thunder starting pitcher Danny Garza.
Jean Carmona had a two-out, two-run double later in the inning.
In the top of the fifth, the Thunder got to Walkers rookie starter Jerry Tate for a trio of tallies.
Like St. Louis, it started with a lead-off homer, this one from former Walker Myles Austin.
Cesar Silva later drove in a run with a single.
A Nick Gonzalez sac fly tied it at 3-3.
Tate went seven innings, allowing the three runs on six hits. He struck out six and walked two.
Six relievers followed Tate to the mound for St. Louis.
Cory Tiller (1.0 IP) started the parade.
He was followed by Yeison Santos (0.1), Josh Grissom (1.0), Josh Forgy (0.2), Andres Hernandez (1.0) and closer Ernesto Barbosa (2.0).
Barbosa (2-1) earned the win for his rare multi-inning outing.

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Record: 68-46, 2nd, 3.5 GB Des Moines
Tied 1-1 and no-hit through five innings, St. Louis scored three runs in the top of the sixth inning -- and later blew it open with seven in the eighth -- as the River Walkers downed Kansas City 11-6 at Royals Stadium (1973).
The Monarchs' Anderson Parra didn't allow a hit in his five innings as the starter.
But he did allow a run in the top of the third when Thairo Estrada drew a lead off walk.
A bunt from pitcher Xavier Wigfall moved Estrada to second, and a wild pitched advanced Estrada to third.
Peter Ahn drove him home with a fly ball, tying it at 1-1.
It didn't take long for the Walkers to post their first hit following Parra's exit.
Jose Ramirez led off the top of the sixth with a single off reliever Tony Locey.
And fact, it would be three straight hits.
A Jared Thomas doubled moved Ramirez to third.
When rookie Nick Shaw hit his 15th homer of the season, St. Louis led 4-1.
Solo homers from Darren Miller in the bottom of the sixth (off Wigfall) and pinch-hitter Jesse Salmons in the seventh (off Nick Ruffalo) pulled the Monarchs within a run.
But by the time they would hit again, they would trail by eight.
St. Louis needed just four hits to score seven runs -- thanks to a couple of walks.
Estrada had an RBI double and Nathaniel Dixon plated one with a single off Matt Broussard.
Ramirez drew a bases-loaded walk from Tyler Whitaker before Jared Thomas delivered the big blow with a grand slam.
Wigfall (2-2) allowed two runs on five hits in six innings. He struck out five and didn't issue a walk.
Nick Ruffalo (0.2 IP) and Josh Grissom (0.1) combined on a scoreless seventh.
Andres Hernandez did the same in the eighth before getting raked for three runs in the ninth.
Josh Forgy came on to strike out Ed Moore to end it.

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Record: 69-46, 2nd, 2.5 GB Des Moines
Trailing 5-3, St. Louis scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning and held on to defeat Kansas City 8-6 at Royals Stadium (1973).
The River Walkers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning against Monarchs starting pitcher Travis Rinker.
Matt Fulton drove in the first run with a single.
A single from Jose Ramirez plated the other two.
Kansas City, however, responded with five in the bottom half of the inning against St. Louis starter Kaneo Kawamoto.
Logan Tanner drove in the first two with a double.
Rinker scored the third with a sac fly.
A wild pitch scored run followed by a Josh Shuler RBI single later made it 5-3.
Daniel Becerra got things rolling for St. Louis against Rinker in the top of the fourth with a one-out single.
Rinker followed that with three straight walks, the third, to Alex Greene, scoring a run to make it 5-4.
A sac fly from Nick Shaw tied it at 5-5 and also sent Rinker to the shower.
Jose Lazaro took over, but allowed a RBI single to Jean Carmona which put the Walkers in front.
A RBI single from Ricky Liriano off Tyler Whitaker in the top of the sixth expanded the St. Louis' lead to 7-5.
When Alex Greene connected on a RBI triple off Juan Sandoval in the seventh, it was 8-5.
Darren Miller hit a solo homer off Ricky Cisneros in the bottom of the eighth to make it 8-6.
Kawamoto (5-7) had the one bad inning, and ended up pitching five during which he allowed the five runs on five hits. He struck out three and walked one.
Cisneros pitched two innings, allowing the Miller homer in the eighth.
Cory Tiller handled the ninth and earned his second save.

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Record: 69-47, 2nd, 3.5 GB Des Moines
Darren Miller hit a grand slam in the bottom of the third inning to help give Kansas City a 5-0 lead, and the Monarchs went on to defeat St. Louis 5-4 at Royals Stadium (1973).
The win allowed Kansas City to avoid being swept by the River Walkers in the three-game series.,
The Monarchs went up 1-0 with a run in the bottom of the first.
Cole Wagner scored the run after drawing a lead-off walk from St. Louis starting pitcher Zack Hunsicker.
A wild pitch moved Wagner to second and he scored on a two-out single by Miller.
In the third, the Monarchs first three batters of the inning reached base -- ------ via two singles and a walk -- against Hunsicker.
Miller then turned around a 3-2 pitch for a grand slam, driving it 449 feet -- and his 30th home run of the season.
St. Louis climbed to within 5-3, with a three-run fifth.
Daniel Becerra drove in two of the runs with a single off KC starter Mike Tucker.
The Monarchs got two of those runs back in the sixth, Logan Tanner hitting a two-run homer off Hunsicker.
Tucker (7-10) pitched five innings, allowing three runs on fice hits.
After that, the Monarchs got an inning apiece from Leo Hermosillo, Tony Locey, Alexis Yanez and Dominic Pipkin to close out the game,
Pipkin earned his third save of the season.

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MBL news: Week 17 -- Awards and standings

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Record: 70-47, 2nd, 3.5 GB Des Moines
Tied 3-3, Daniel Becerra hit a two-run home run to highlight a three-run bottom of the fourth inning to help lift St. Louis to a 7-3 win over Kansas City at Busch Stadium (1997).
The Monarchs had tied the game in the top of the fourth on a three-run homer from Jesse Salmons off River Walkers starting pitcher Jesse McNaboe.
A one-out single by Thairo Estrada got things going for St. Louis in the bottom of the fourth.
McNaboe tried to get down a bunt, but ended up reaching base on a throwing error by catcher Adrian Del Castillo,
Estrada scored on a fly ball hit by Jean Carmona.
The next batter, Becerra, hit a 3-2 pitch from Monarchs starter Jose Buenrostro 427 feet over the wall in right center, putting St. Louis ahead 6-3.
Jose Ramirez added an insurance run with a lead-off homer in the bottom of the seventh off Juan Sandoval.
McNaboe (14-6) picked up his 14th win of the season.
He pitched seven innings, allowing the three runs on five hits. He struck out seven and walked two.
Josh Grissom pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Walkers.
Nick Ruffalo did the same in the ninth.

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Record: 70-48, 2nd, 4.5 GB Des Moines
Tied 1-1, Ramon Puente hit a three-run homer to highlight a four-run top of the fifth inning for Kansas City, and that helped propel the Monarchs to a 5-4 win over St. Louis at Busch Stadium (1997).
Three-consecutive singles -- from Jason Gillem., Tony Martinez and Darren Miller -- off River Walkers starter Jerry Tate got things going for the Monarchs in the top of the fifith.
Miller's single scored Gillem to break the 1-1 tie.
After a pair of fly outs, Ramon Puente hit a three-run homer on a 1-2 pitch as the KC lead grew to 5-1.
The Walkers did score three times in the bottom of the fifth, Jose Segura collecting all three RBIs with a bases-loaded double off Grayson Rodriguez.
That, however, would be the end of the scoring.
Monarchs starting pitcher Victor Vodnik lasted 4.2 innings, allowing three runs on three hits.
Rodriguez (2-1) finished the fifth and worked a scoreless sixth for KC.
He would earn the win.
Travis Whitaker, Matthew Broussard and Dominic Pipkin all pitched a scoreless inning to close out the win.
Pipkin earned his fourth save.
Tate (12-1) saw a string of 12 straight victorious decisions come to an end.

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Record: 70-49, 2nd, 4.5 GB Des Moines
Down 5-4, Kansas City scored two runs in the top of the eighth inning to take the lead, and the Monarchs went on to defeat St. Louis 7-5 at Busch Stadium (1997).
The victory gave KC victories in the final two games of the three-game series. It also meant the teams split the six games in the home and home series.
A pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning -- Daniel Becerra hit a solo homer and Nick Shaw drove in the other with a fly ball -- had put the Walkers ahead 5-4.
The score stayed that way until the eighth.
Logan Tanner set things in motion with a one-out double off Ricky Cisneros.
Darren Miller followed that with a strike out.
But Cole Wagner got into a 1-2 pitch and drove it 389 feet over the wall in right field, as the Monarchs moved in front.
Ryan West connected for an RBI double off Josh Forgy in the ninth, providing KC with an insurance run.
Monarchs starting pitcher Anderson Parra lasted just four innings, allowing three runs on six hits.
Juan Sandoval gave up a pair of runs in the fifth.
Chris LaColla (3-1) got the win after keeping the Walkers from scoring in the seventh and eighth.
Alexis Yanez pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Dominic Pipkin did the same in the ninth for his fifth save.

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Record: 71-49, 2nd, 3.5 GB Des Moines
St. Louis scored 13 runs in the top of the 10th inning, and then withstood a six-run outburst in the bottom half, as the River Walkers won 21-14 at the Polo Grounds (1923).
The Traders had gone up 8-6 with six runs in the bottom of the eighth.
James Gamble drove in two runs with a single off St. Louis reliever Josh Grissom, who allowed four straight batters to reach to start the inning.
Christian Sanchez also plated a pair with a double off Gamble.
The Walkers tied it in the top of the ninth.
Thairo Estrada led of the inning with a single off Oscar Martinez, and moved to second when pinch-hitter Matt Fulton reached on an error by third baseman Roberto Hernandez.
Jean Carmona tied it with a two-run double.
The top of the 10th was a circus, as the Walkers scored 13 runs on 10 hits and sent 17 batters to the plate.
Nick Shaw had two hits and two RBIs. Jean Carmona was hit by a pitch and had a RBI double.
Jean Segura had a two-run double.
The Traders did make some noise roughing up the St. Louis bullpen for six runs in the bottom of the 10th.
Jarrod Towney deserves most of the credit hitting a grand slam off Josh Forgy.
St. Louis starting pitcher Kaneo Kawamoto pitched five innings, allowing two runs on six hits.
Andres Hernandez followed with two scoreless innings.
Josh Grissom (0.,2 IP) and Nick Ruffalo (0.1) combined on a silent eighth.
Ernesto Barboso did the same in the ninth.
Cory Tiller (0.2) and Forgy (0.1) got knocked around in the 10th, but it was not nearly enough.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have placed infielder/outfielder Peter Ahn on the injured list after he suffered an undisclosed injury during a 21-14 win at Grand Rapids on August 19.
Ahn had just been called up from AAA to lend depth in the outfield following an injury to left fielder Jose Ramirez.
In seven games, Ahn had hit .462 with two homers and three RBIs.
At AAA this season, the 33-year-old has hit .268 with three homers and 25 RBIs.
Getting called from AAA is first baseman/third baseman Jovan Gill, who was on a rehab assignment with the Redbirds.
Gill, 30, has not played in the majors since suffering a hip injury on July 23 at Green Bay.
In 86 games for the Walkers this season, Gil has batted .245 with 15 homers and 32 RBIs.
Gill played two games at Memphis, hitting .333 with no homers or RBIs.

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Record: 72-49, 2nd, 2.5 GB Des Moines
Trailing 9-7, St. Louis scored six runs in the top of the ninth inning to pave the way for a 13-9 win over Grand Rapids at the Polo Grounds (1923).
A five-run bottom of the sixth had put the Traders in front 9-4.
The River Walkers knocked three runs out of that deficit in the top of the seventh on a two-out, three-run homer from Daniel Becerra off Grand Rapids reliever Dylan Cloonan.
Matt Fulton set the tone for the top of the ninth with a lead-off homer off reliever Trey Benton.
The Traders' bullpen had to be running on fumes, after taking some heavy damage in a 21-14 to the Walkers the previous day.
Nathaniel Dixon followed with a double, sending Benton to the shower.
Cristian Sanchez took over, and allowed a lead-off single to Becerra, which put runners at the corners.
He then retired Jose Segura for the first out.
The next three St. Louis hitters reached base -- on two walks and a two-run single by Jared Thomas, which put the Walkers in front 10-9.
Rhett Daniel replaced Sanchez and was greeted by a run-scoring fly ball by Jean Carmona.
Thairo Estrada drove in the inning's final two runs with a double.
Walkers starting pitcher Zack Hunsicker endured a rough outing, allowing seven runs on seven hits in just 5.1 innings.
Andres Hernandez took over and allowed three straight hits.
Nick Ruffalo had to come on to close out the sixth. He followed with a scoreless seventh.
Yeison Santos set the Traders down without a run in the eighth.
With the Walkers bullpen also running on fumes, closer Ernesto Barbosa had to pitch in a no-save situation.
He allowed a lead-off double to Marcos Francis, but retired the next three to end it.

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Record: 73-49, 2nd, 1.5 GB Des Moines
Trailing 5-4, St. Louis scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning and went on for a 10-5 win over Grand Rapids at the Polo Grounds (1923).
Down 2-0, the Traders took the lead with three runs in the bottom of the third inning off River Walkers starting pitcher Jesse McNaboe.
After St. Louis tied it with a Nathaniel Dixon homer off Grand Rapids starting pitcher Gerardo Guerra in the bottom of the fifth, the Traders went up 5-3 on a two-run homer off McNaboe in the bottom of the inning.
But the Walkers would not quit, again facing a Grand Rapids bullpen which has allowed a ton of runs over the last two games.
St. Louis scored once in the sixth -- an RBI single from Ricky Liriano off Dylan Cloonan -- to make it 5-4.
The Walkers than took the lead with a three-spot in the seventh.
Dixon drew a lead-off walk from Dan Bouwman and later scored when Alex Greene hit into a fielder's choice to tie it.
Jean Carmona later hit a two-run homer off Rhett Daniel to put St. Louis ahead 7-5.
The damage continued in the eighth, when Jovan Gill hit a lead-off homer off Trey Benton, making it 8-5.
Gill drove in another run in the ninth, with a RBI single in the ninth off Cristian Sanchez, while Liriano plated another with a single of his own, also off Sanchez.
McNaboe (15-6) wasn't very good, allowing five runs on nine hits in six innings, but still came out of it with his MBL-leading 15th victory.
Ricky Cisneros retired all nine of the batters he faced over the final three innings for his fourth save.

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The game between the St. Louis River Walkers and Grand Rapids Traders at the Polo Grounds (1923), has been postponed by rain.
It has been rescheduled for Sept. 13 in Grand Rapids.
The Walkers won the first three games of the series.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have placed 33-year-old left-handed pitcher Izzy San Juan on waivers.
San Juan just completed a rehab assignment at AAA Memphis, after missing three months with an elbow injury suffered on May 4.
For the Walkers this season, San Juan had gone 0-2 in six starts with a 6.49 ERA.
During his time with the Redbirds, San Juan had made five starts going 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA.
Signed as a free agent from Quad City prior to the 2030 season, San Juan had compiled a 30-14 record with a 3.62 ERA in 70 starts.
He owns a career record of 107-100 with a 3.85 ERA in 397 games (339 starts).
San Juan is in the third year of a four-year contract paying him $15 million per season.
The fourth season, 2033, features a team option which obviously will not be exercised.

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Walkers news: Week 18 -- Awards and standings

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Record: 73-50, 2nd, 2 GB Des Moines
Bret Baty's two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning drove in Jose Flores and Milwaukee defeated St. Louis 5-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium (1976).
Flores had led off the bottom of the ninth with a double off River Walkers reliever Josh Grissom.
A fly ball by pinch-hitter Garrett Frechette had moved Flores to third.
Nick Ruffalo took over for Grissom and got Nomar Mazarra to hit into a force platy, with Rivera being retired at second.
St. Louis then walked Andrew Foley to load the bases.
But Baty spoiled the lefty vs. lefty strategy with a single up the middle to score Flores.
Earlier, Baty had tied it at 4-4 with a lead-off homer off Yeison Santos in the bottom of the eighth.
Crushers starting pitcher Adam George lasted just four innings, allowing two runs on two hits.
Daniel Espino worked two innings, giving up a pair of runs in the fifth on a two-run homer from Jose Segura, as the Walkers went up 4-2.
Scott Mueller worked a scoreless seventh.
Jeff Munn (4-0) earned the win, and didn't allow a base runner over the eighth and ninth.

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Record: 73-51, 2nd, 3 GB Des Moines
Down 2-0, Milwaukee's Jose Nieto connected on a double with the bases loaded which scored three and carried the Crushers to a 3-2 win over St. Louis at Milwaukee County Stadium (1976).
All the scoring came in the sixth inning.
The River Walkers went up 2-0 with a pair of runs off Milwaukee starter Mile Goldblatt.
In the bottom of the inning, reliever Yeison Santos, who came on to replace rookie Xavier Wigfall who had blanked the Crushers on three hits, gave up a one out single to Andrew Foley, followed by a double to Bret Baty to put runners at second and third.
Santos, a lefty, followed that with a walk to the right-handed hitting Cayden Wallace to load the bases.
He then struck out Rogelio Mercado for the second out.
Right-handed reliever Cory Tiller got the call to face the right-handed swinging Nieto.
He smacked a 2-0 pitch down the right-field line to score all three base runners and put the Crushers ahead for good.
Milwaukee starting pitcher Jesse Mucci pitched 4.1 shutout innings.
He was followed to the mound by Mike Goldblatt and Jeff Munn, who both recorded four outs.
Munn (5-0) would earn his fifth win of the season.
Chad Bigalow worked a scoreless eighth.
Bill Webb struck out the side in the ninth for his 25th save.

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Record: 73-52, 2nd, 4 GB Des Moines
Justin Buck didn't allow a hit over the first six innings and Milwaukee completed a three-game sweep of St. Louis with a 3-1 win at Milwaukee County Stadium (1973).
Buck no-hit the River Walkers through six innings before giving up a lead-off double to Jean Carmona in the seventh.
Buck exited the game after the hit.
Scott Mueller came on and retired the next three to retain what was a 3-0 lead.
Buck (8-5) in his six innings, allowed the one hit while striking out eight and walking one.
Mueller, Daniel Espino and Bill Webb all pitched scoreless innings to close the win.
Webb earned his 26th save.
The Crushers took the lead in the bottom of the first when Erik Rivera led off with a solo homer off St. Louis starter Kaneo Kawamoto.
Rogelio Mercado connected on a two-out, two-run single off Kawamoto in the fourth to make it 3-0.
Nathaniel Dixon drove in what-would-be the lone Walkers' run with a single off off Daniel Espino in the eighth.
Espino retired the next two, keeping the score at 3-1.

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Record: 74-52, 2nd, 3 GB Des Moines
Pinch-hitter Jae-hong Chang hit a two-run homer with one out in the seventh inning to snap a 1-1 tie, and lift St. Louis to a 3-2 win over Cedar Rapids at Connie Mack Stadium (1960).
Jovan Gill drew a one-out walk from Evan Palmer before Chong stepped to the plate.
Palmer struck out Jared Thomas for the second out.
But Palmer's first pitch to Chang traveled 396 feet over the fence in left field to give the River Walkers the lead.
St. Louis starting pitcher Zack Hunsicker worked 5.2 innings, allowing one run on two hits. He struck out two and walked three.
Nick Ruffalo (2-0) retired the only batter he faced to keep the score 1-1.
He would earn the win.
Josh Grissom pitched two innings of scoreless relief.
Ernesto Barbosa did allow a solo homer to Steven Williams in the ninth, but still came away with his 30th save.

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Record: 75-52, 2nd, 3 GB Des Moines
St. Louis scored three runs in the top of the first inning -- including back-to-back homers from Daniel Becerra and Jose Ramirez -- and St. Louis went on to defeat Cedar Rapids 4-2 at Connie Mack Stadium (1960).
Becerra struck first with a one-out homer off Grapplers starting pitcher Ian Goshe.
Five pitches later, facing a 2-2 count, Ramirez hit his 30th home run of the season to put St. Louis ahead 2-0.
The River Walkers, however, were not done as Jose Segura followed with a triple.
Segura scored when Goshe was called for a balk.
The Walkers lead grew to 4-0 in the top of the sixth.
Becerra scored his second run of the game after reaching on an error by Cedar Rapids third baseman Mark Hill.
He later scored on a two-out single by Jean Carmona.
Walkers starting pitcher Jesse McNaboe became MLB's second 16th-game winner.
McNaboe (16-6) worked five shutout innings before giving up a pair of runs in the sixth.
The right-hander allowed five hits, while striking out three and walked three.
Cory Tiller, Yeison Santos and closer Ernesto Barbosa all pitched scoreless innings to close out the game.
Barbosa earned his 31st save.