2024 St. Louis River Walkers -- Why can't this thing be fixed?

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Record: 71-68, 3rd, 5 GB Des Moines
Jared Thomas two-out pinch-hit single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning scored Bo Bichette to give St. Louis a 4-3 win over Kansas City at Busch Stadium (1997).
Bichette had led off the inning with a walk from Pit Masters relief pitcher Juan Sandoval and stole second with two outs on the first pitch to Thomas.
On an 0-2, Thomas lined a single past K.C. second baseman Tyler Wade, bringing Bichette home with the game-winning run.
The River Walkers scored twice in the bottom of the first, only to have the Masters match that in the top of the second.
Kansas City starter pitcher Trevor Oaks connected on a bases-loaded single against his St. Louis counterpart Aaron Nola in the fourth, putting the Masters ahead 3-2.
The Walkers would tie it in the bottom of that inning after Oaks hit Michael Amditis with one out.
An error by catcher Yasmani Grandal on a Nola bunt moved Amditis to third.
He scored on an Alek Thomas ground out.
Nola handled the first six innings, allowing three runs on eight hits. He struck out seven and walked two.
Sean Doolittle blanked K.C. over 1.2 innings while Phil Maton (3-0) got the final out of the eighth, and set himself up to earn the win.
Jake Brentz worked around a pair of base runners in the ninth for his fifth save.

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Record: 71-69, 3rd, 6 GB Des Moines
Kansas City put six runs on the board in the top of the sixth inning to break the game open and went on for a 7-3 win over St. Louis at Busch Stadium (1997).
The victory allowed the Pit Masters to split the quick two-game series with the River Walkers.
Danny Cushing led off the fourth inning with a home run off Walkers starting pitcher Alex Faedo, putting the Pit Masters ahead 1-0.
Kansas City then piled it on the sixth.
Faedo walked the first two batters and hit the third to load the bases.
He struck out Brian Mundell, only to issue a walked to Yordan Alvarez to force Jean Carlos Arias home with the game's second run.
Yasmani Grandal flew out for the second out.
John Curtiss took the mound and got Yan Contreras to hit a ground ball to third baseman Romy Gonzalez.
However, second baseman Bo Bichette could not handle the throw for his eighth error of the season.
Cushing scored to make it 3-0.
Pitcher Kyle Wright followed with a single, pushing it to 4-0.
A single by Greg Jones made it 6-0, hastening Curtiss to the shower.
Nick Lodolo allowed yet another single, as the K.C. lead reached 7-0.
Wright (7-12) was impressive on the mound with 6.1 scoreless innings during which he allowed two hits while striking out two and walking one.
Mario Galvez finished the seventh and carried the shutout into the ninth.
Zach Burdi could not keep the Walkers off the board, giving up an run-scoring ground out to Andrew Benintendi and two-run homer to Jared Thomas.
But the game would never get close.

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Record: 71-70, 4th, 7 GB Des Moines
Kahlil Lee connected on a pinch-hit single off St. Louis reliever John Curtiss with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to score Thairo Estrada with the game-winning run as Des Moines downed St .Louis 5-4 to win a game that had been halted by rain the day before at LaBatt Park.
The contest had been halted in the eighth inning on Sept. 6 tied at 4-4.
Estrada opened the bottom of the ninth with a single off River Walkers reliever Jake Brentz.
He moved to second on a Rafael Devers single, but Brentz struck out Cody Bellinger for the second out.
A walk to Andrew Foley loaded the bases and was supposed to bring right-handed hitting Carson Kelly to the plate.
St. Louis countered with right-handed pitcher John Curtiss only to have Lee replace Kelly at the plate.
Lee lined a 1-1 pitch between first and second to score the game-winning run.
Down 2-0, the River Walkers scored four times against Harvesters ace Yeo-San Park in the second to seize the lead.
Jean Carmona scored the first two runs with a double, while rookie George Valera plated the other two with his first homer of the season.
Des Moines tied it in the bottom of the third on a two-run homer from Devers off Walkers starter Argenis Batista.
Park worked just four innings, giving up four runs on six hits.
Jendersson Caraballo followed with two scoreless innings.
Omar Benitez, Leo Vazquez and Bryan Garcia all held the Walkers scoreless for an inning apiece.
Garcia improved to 9-5 with the win.

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Record: St. Louis 72-70, 4th, 6 GB Des Moines
Steven Brault allowed one run over seven innings and St. Louis piled up all nine of its runs between the fourth and sixth innings to power its way to a 9-1 win over Des Moines at LaBatt Park.
The game was the day's regularly scheduled game, after the Harvesters had completed a 5-4 win in the completion of a suspended contest earlier in the day.
The River Walkers took control with a three-run fourth inning highlighted by an RBI triple from Andrew Benintendi off Harvesters starter Sixto Sanchez followed by a two-run homer from Rhys Hoskins.
Alan Dondero led off the fifth with a homer off Sanchez.
The River Walkers made it a rout with their five-run sixth.
Nick Porier drove in the first run with a single off rfeliever Quinn Priester.
Dondero then plated a trio of base runners with a bases-loaded triple.
Alek Thomas chased Dondero home with a single off Kyle Hill.

Brault (7-8) took a shutout into the seventh before pinch-hitter Glenallen Hill led off with a single and later scored on a fielder's choice.
Brault allowed the one run on four hits. He struck out eight and walked just one.
Phil Maton handled the final two innings without a hitch.

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Record: 73-70, 4th, 5 GB Des Moines
St. Louis owned a 5-0 lead by the end of 3.5 innings and held on to defeat Des Moines 5-4 at LaBatt Park.
The victory allowed the River Walkers to take two of three games from the Harvesters.
Michael Amditis put St. Louis in front 1-0 with a solo homer off Harvesters starter Dallas Keuchel with two outs in the top of the second inning.
That lead grew to 3-0 in the third, as the Walkers connected for four straight singles off Keuchel.
Rhys Hoskins collected an RBI with one of them.
Romy Gonzalez later singled to make it 3-0.
St. Louis kept the runs coming in the fourth, scoring two more.
Andrew Benintendi drove in the first run with a single off Keuchel.
A Hoskins sacrifice fly plated Alan Dondeo who had doubled earlier int the inning.
Des Moines stormed back with a run in the fifth --- Kahlil Lee with a run-scoring single off St. Louis starter Aaron Nola -- and three more in the sixth.
Carlos David Rodriguez earning all three RBIs with a homer off Nola.
But five relievers combined to keep Des Moines from scoring again.
Nick Lodolo (0.2 IP), John Curtiss (0.2), Caleb Ferguson (0.1), Kenley Jansen (0.1) handled the seventh and eighth innings.
Edwin Diaz was perfect in the ninth for his 16th save.
Before all that, Nola (9-9) pitched six innings giving up the four runs on seven hits.
He struck out five and walked none.

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MBL news: Week 23 awards and standings

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Record: 73-71, 4th, 5 GB Des Moines
Quad City jumped out to a 6-1 lead and held on to defeat St. Louis 6-5 at Busch Stadium (1997).
The Thunder scored two runs in the first, third and fourth innings to build their 6-1 advantage.
Duke Kinamon led off the game with a homer off River Walkers starting pitcher Jimmy Lambert.
Thomas Dillard added a run-scoring single later in the first made it 2-0.
Dillard collected his second RBI of the game in the third with a sacrifice fly.
Orlando Arcia followed it with a single, all of it off Lambert, scoring a run and making it 4-1.
An error by Walkers second baseman Bo Bichette led to the first of two Quad City runs in the fourth.,
An RBI single from Jose Ramirez, again off Lambert, made it 6-1.
Down 6-2, St. Louis made it interesting in the ninth.
A two-run double from Alan Dondero off reliever Nick Goody made it 6-4.
Alek Thomas followed with another double, and it was 6-5.
But Goody struck out Andrew Benintendi to end it, and earn himself his 35th save.
Quad City starter Izzy San Juan (7-7) lasted six innings, giving up to runs on six hits.
Nick Wood followed by working two silent stanzas.
Weaver pitched a scoreless eighth and got the first out of the ninth.
Goody had his issues but closed it out.

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Record: 74-71, 4th, 4 GB Des Moines
St. Louis scored five times in the bottom of the first inning and rode that outburst to a 6-2 win over Quad City at Busch Stadium (1997).
Much of that outburst came from the inability of Thunder starting pitcher Will Shirah to throw strikes.

He hit a pair of batters and walked one, which was given to Michael Toglia with the bases loaded and drove in the game's first run.
The next batter, Jared Thomas, doubled to push the score to 3-0.
Tanner Kohlhepp followed with another single, which was compounded by an error in left field by Dustin Peterson, to make it 5-0.
The River Walkers got a strong start from Alex Faedo (11-10), who allowed two runs on three hits over six innings. He struck out eight and walked none.
One of those hits was a two-run homer by Peterson in the top of the second.
St. Louis got its final run in the sixth on another pitching snafu, a wild pitch by reliever Chris Flexen scoring Jean Carmona.
Nick Lodolo got the first two outs of the seventh inning.
Edwin Diaz finished the seventh and was flawless in the eighth.
Jake Brentz ended it with a 1-2-3 ninth.

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Record: 75-71, 4th, 4 GB Des Moines
Argenis Batista recorded 26 of 27 outs before running out of gas and Michael Toglia hit two home runs as St. Louis rolled past Quad City 9-0 at Busch Stadium (1997).
The win game the River Walkers in the final two game of their three-game series with the Thunder.
Toglia put St. Louis up 2-0 in the bottom of the third with a two-run homer off Q-C starter Brent Honeywell.
That advantage grew to 5-0 in the fifth inning, Toglia started it with a one-out solo shot off Honeywell.
Tanner Kohlhepp took care of the other two with a two-out single.
The Walkers made it ugly with a four-run eighth.
All of the runs came with two outs, Batista plating the first two with a double.
Toglia plated the other two with a double, giving him five RBIs for the game
Batista worked into the ninth inning, but exited after Randolph Thorne smacked his 123rd hit for a double to put runners at second and third with one out.
Phil Maton came on to get Thomas Dillard to ground out to end it.
Batista (9-8) ended up allowed no runs on seven hits. He struck out seven and walked none.

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Record: 76-71, 3rd, 3.5 GB Des Moines
Steven Brault handled the opening 7.2 innings and a pair of reliever did the rest as St. Louis downed Madison 4-0 as the River Walkers posted their second consecutive shutout at Busch Stadium (1997).
With the score just 1-0, Brault exited with two outs in the top of the eighth inning having allowed five hits while striking out seven and walked one.
The last batter Brault faced, Nick Senzel, singled on his 106th pitch of the game.
Nick Lodolo took over and got Nomar Mazara to fly out ending the inning.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth, Jean Carmona had led off with a douhle off Muskies starting pitcher Jean Carmona and scored on a Tanner Kohlhepp single, the Walkers broke it open with three runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Pinch-hitter Alek Thomas had the big hit with a two-run single off reliever Luke Bard.
Michael Toglia plated the third with a single off Brusdar Graterol
That set the stage for Edwin Diaz to pitch the ninth without incidence.

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Record: 76-72, 4th, 4.5 GB Des Moines
Down 1-0, Madison busted loose for five runs in the top of the eighth inning which was enough to carry the Muskies to a 6-1 win over St. Louis at Busch Stadium (1997).
The long ball powered Madison's outburst.
Matt Olson struck first with a three-run homer off River Walkers starting pitcher Aaron Nola.
Phil Maton then took the ball for St. Louis.
He walked Francisco Lindor and Jordan Myrow followed with a two-run shot.
The Muskies added another run in the ninth after Cole Brannen reached on an error by left fielder Andrew Benintendi and later scored when Aramis Ademan doubled off reliever Caleb Ferguson.
Ademan was 5 for 5 in the game with the one double, a run scored and an RBI.
Madison starting pitcher Logan Gilbert (14-6) worked seven innings, giving up one run on three hits.
Luke Bard pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
Regi Grace ended it by striking out the side in the ninth.

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Record: 77-72, 4th, 3.5 GB Des Moines
St. Louis got a pair of two-run home runs in the eighth inning from Bo Bichette and Michael Toglia to snap a 1-1 tie and power the River Walkers to a 5-1 win at Busch Stadium (1997).
The win gave St. Louis wins in two of its three games against the Muskies.
Down 1-0, the Walkers had tied it in the bottom of the sixth inning when Alek Thomas doubled with one out off Madison starter Stephen Gonsalves and scored on a two-out single from Andrew Benintendi.
Thomas got things going again in the eighth with a one-out single off Ethan Hankins and scored when Bo Bichette followed with his homer.
St. Louis was not done.
Rhys Hoskins drew a two-out walk from Hankins and Toglia followed with his two-run shot.
Making his first start of the season after spending the campaign at Memphis, Ernesto Rios was impressive allowing one run on four hits over six innings. He struck out four and walked one.
Kenley Jansen, Sean Doolittle and Jake Brentz all worked a scoreless inning apiece to close it out.
Doolittle (3-0) earned the win.

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MBL news: Week 24 -- Awards and standings

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Record: 78-72, 3rd, 3.5 GB Des Moines
Alex Faedo took a shutout into the seventh inning and Bo Bichette provided both of his team's runs with a homer as St. Louis downed Twin Cities 2-1 at Busch Stadium (1997).
Bichette put the River Walkers ahead 2-0 with his two-out home run off Snow Cats starting pitcher Mike Shawaryn in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Jared Thomas, who had singled right in front of Bichette, scored ahead of him.
Twin Cities made it 2-1 in the top of the seventh when Jake Burger led off with his 20th homer off the season off Faedo.
Faedo would face one more batter before exiting.
He allowed the one run on four hits. He struck out two and walked three.
Nick Lodolo replaced Faedo with a runner at first and got Garrett Wolforth to hit into a double play to end the inning.
Sean Doolittle recorded the first out of the eighth inning. Phil Maton took care of the other two.
Edwin Diaz was perfect in the ninth for his 17th save.

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The Detroit Wheelmen became the first team to clinch a berth in the Mississippi Baseball League postseason with a 6-3 victory over Cincinnati on Sept. 17 to sew up the American League West Division title.

The victory improved Detroit to 94-55 and placed it 14.5 games in front of second-place Indianapolis with 13 games remaining.
The Wheelmen also own the best record in the American League, sitting 2.5 games ahead of AL East leader Cincinnati.

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Record: 79-72, 2nd (Tied/w. Springfield), 2.5 GB Des Moines
Argenis Batista recorded 26 of 27 outs before exiting for the second straight game, as he helped lead St. Louis to a 3-0 win over Twin Cities at Busch Stadium (1997).
In his previous outing, Batista had worked into the bottom of the ninth before exiting with two outs in a 9-0 win over Quad City.
This time, Batista carried a shutout into the ninth before allowing a double and a walk and leaving after throwing 126 pitches.

With runners at first and second, Edwin Diaz entered and gave up a single to Eloy Jimenez which loaded the bases.
Diaz rebounded to get Mitch Bernier to ground out, recording his second save in as many days and giving him 18 for the season.
Batista took a no-hitter into the seventh inning when Roc Riggio led off with a single.
Altogether, Batista allowed two hits while striking out 12 and walking one.
On the offensive side, the River Walkers grabbed the lead in the bottom of the first on a solo homer from Michael Toglia off Snow Cats starter Sonny Gray.

Another solo shot, this from Andrew Benintendi, also off Gray, to lead off the fourth made it 2-0.
Alek Thomas led off the sixth with a double off Gray and scored on a Jean Carmona sacrifice fly.

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Record: 80-72, 2nd (Tied/w. Springfield), 2.5 GB Des Moines
Christian Arroyo tripled to drive in the tying run and later scored the winning run on a Michael Toglia single as St. Louis rallied for a 4-3 win over Twin Cities at Busch Stadium (1997).
The victory gave the River Walkers a sweep of their three-game series with the Snow Cats.
St. Louis now sits in a tie for second place with Springfield, 2.5 games in back of first place Des Moines with 10 games left in the season.
A two-run homer from Byron Buxton highlighted a three-run top of the second inning against St. Louis starter Steven Brault for Twin Cities.
The Walkers climbed back to within 3-2 in the fifth, Andrew Benintendi driving in the first run with a single off Cats reliever Ryan Hawks.
Toglia plated the second with a sacrifice fly.
Alek Thomas was hit by a pitch by Twin Cities closer Thyago Vieria to begin the ninth.
That brought Arroyo to the plate.
Arroyo had entered the game in the fifth inning when Bo Bichette exited after suffering a mild hamstring injury while running the bases.
Arroyo laced a 3-1 pitch from Vieria into the left-field corner for a double.
The hit scored Thomas with the tying run, while Arroyo moved to third on the throw home.
Benintendi grounded out for the second out.
But Toglia followed with a single past first baseman Francis Villamn bringing Arroyo home with the winning run.
Brault worked six innings, allowing three runs on four hits. He struck out 10 and walked two.
Six relievers combined to work the final three innings for St. Louis.
Phil Maton (0.1 IP) and Nick Lodolo (0.1) got the first two outs of the seventh inning.
John Curtiss finished that inning and worked a scoreless eighth.
Caleb Ferguson, Kenley Jansen and Sean Doolittle all got an out apiece in the ninth.
Doolittle (4-0) came out of it with the victory.

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Record: 80-73, 4th, 2.5 GB Des Moines
The first pitch St. Louis reliever Sean Doolittle threw in the bottom of the ninth inning eluded catcher Jared Thomas and allowed Matt McLain to score the game-winning run as Cedar Rapids edged the River Walkers 5-4 at Shibe Park (1949).
The loss snapped a four-game win streak for St. Louis.

McLain had drawn a walk from reliever Nick Lodolo to open the bottom of the ninth.
With Terrin Vavra at the plate, McLain stole second and then found third on a passed ball.
Vavra was given an intentional walk, putting runners at the corners.
John Curtiss took the mound and struck out Domingo Santana for the second out.
Doolittle then came on to face the left-handed hitting Domonic Smith.
His first pitch was no-where near the plate opening the door for McLain to score.
The Golden Grapplers forged a 3-0 lead with a big bottom of the fifth against River Walkers starter Aaron Nola.
Santana drove in the second and third run with a double.
The Cedar Rapids lead reached 4-1 in the seventh when Mark Vientos led off with a single off Nola.
He stole second and scored when Vavra singled off reliever Caleb Ferguson.
The Walkers stormed back to tie it with four runs in the eighth.
Thomas and Christian Arroyo both had RBI doubles off reliever Taylor Bashlor.

Alan Dondero tied it with an RBI single, also off Bashlor.
Grapplers starting pitcher Jake Woodford worked five innings, giving up one run on six hits.
Five relievers -- David Cullison (1.0 IP), Thomas Burrows (0.1), Zach Schellenger (0.2), Bashlor (1.0) and Danny Grigg (1.0) -- combined to close out the game.
Grigg (1-6) came away with his first win of the season.

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Record: 80-75, 4th, 2.5 GB Des Moines
In a wild game, St. Louis tied it at 5-5 in the top of the sixth inning, only to have Cedar Rapids score five runs over the next three innings to take a 10-5 win at Shibe Park (1949).
It was an ugly game for the Walkers pitching staff, as in addition to allowing 15 hits it issued 14 walks.
Jean Carmona's solo homer off Golden Grapplers starting pitcher Sean Harp tied it at 5 after the top of the sixth inning.
It was a clusterduck from there.
Cedar Rapids broke the tie in the bottom of the inning.
Jacob Pearson led off with a double off reliever John Curtiss and scored on a Matt McLain double.
An inning later, R.J. Teijeiro knocked an RBI single off Sean Doolittle who followed that by giving up a run-scoring double to Pearson.
Cedar Rapids continued to pour it on in the eighth.
Dominic Smith plated the first one with a single off Doolittle, who was asked to take one for the team.
Alex Bregman later made it 10-5 with a single off Brendan Spagnuolo.
Harp allowed five runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings on the mound.
David Cullison finished the sixth and worked a silent seventh.
The eighth and ninth belonged Thomas Burrows and Danny Mejia, who both kept the Walkers off the board.

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Record: 80-75, 4th, 3 GB Springfield
Rookie Cole Wilcox spun six scoreless innings and he got help from four relievers as Cedar Rapids shut out St. Louis 2-0 at Shibe Park (1949).
The win completed a three-game sweep for the Golden Grapplers.
The River Walkers sit in fourth place in the National League South Division, three games behind new leader Springfield with seven games remaining.
Wilcox (2-0) allowed four hits in his time on the mound. He struck out two and walked three.
Zach Schellenberger and Taylor Bashlor worked the seventh and eighth innings.
The ninth was split between Danny Grigg, who got the first out, and Brandon Gold, who recorded the final two for his first save of the season.
The Grapplers got both of their runs in the bottom of the second off St. Louis starter Alex Faedo.
Dominic Smith was hit by a pitch to open the inning. Faedo followed it with a walk to Joc Pederson.
Sam Cohen drove both base runners home with a double.