2033 St. Louis River Walkers: And the saga continues

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Record: 66-90, 7th, 18, GB Springfield
Indianapolis jumped on St. Louis starting pitcher Justin Dougtie for four runs in the bottom of the first inning, and the Racers never looked back in posting a 7-3 win at the Astrodome (1995).
The Racers won the final three games of the four-game series.
Doughtie allowed the first three Racers batters of the game to reach base, including an RBI double from Jake Parker.
After finally getting an out, a strikeout of Adrian Penucci, Tony Galvan blasted a 3-2 pitch 327 feet over the wall in right field to make it 4-0.
The Indy lead eventually reached 7-0.
Parker took Doughtie deep with two outs in the fourth to make it 5-0.
An inning later, pitcher Danny Munos connected on a two-out, two-run single off Doughtie.
Munos shut out the River Walkers into the eighth inning before allowing a three run home run to Wes Cohen.
Overall, Munos pitched eight innings allowing three runs on five hits. He struck out seven and didn't walk a batter.
Devin Hansen took care of the ninth for the Walkers.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have granted veteran utility infielder Thairo Estrada his release and called up third baseman Felix Acevado from the AAA Memphis roster.
Estrada, 37, has complained multiple times this season about a lack of playing time.
In 91 games this season, Estrada is batting .223 with one homer and 16 RBIs.
Estrada has spent seven seasons with the Walkers, getting into 624 games during which he has hit .248 with 25 homers and 151 RBIs.
Acevado, 29, has spent the bulk of his career in the St. Louis' minor-league system.
This season, he played in 43 games for the AAA Redbirds hitting .381 with no homers and 22 RBIs.
He has played in 12 games for the Walkers, batting just .194 with no homers or RBIs.

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MBL news: Week 23 -- Awards and standings

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Record: 67-90, 7th, 18 GB Springfield
St. Louis scored a pair of runs in the top of the 10th inning to defeat Milwakee 3-1 at Miller Park.
Thanks to a home run from Wes Cohen off Crushers starting pitcher Justin Buck to lead off the top of the fourth inning, the River Walkers went into the bottom of the ninth leading 1-0.
But Gil Meier could not seal the deal allowing a one-out homer to Nichols Thibault, his 31st of the season, to even matters.
In the top of the 10th, Milwaukee reliever Joseph King retired Nathaniel Dixon on a ground out to open the inning.
However, pinch-hitter Glenallen Hill Jr. ended up at second base following an error by Crushers second baseman Rogelio Mercado.
Hill scored when Kyren Paris followed with a double.
A Cohen single moved Paris to third.
Jared Thomas chased Paris home with a fly ball to left.
St. Louis starting pitcher Xavier Wigfall worked 6.2 scoreless innings, allowing three hits. He struck out six and walked one.
Nick Ruffalo finished off the seventh for St. Louis.
Cory Tiller pitched a 1-2-3 eighth.
Meier (3-0) blew his first save since being called up from Memphis in the ninth.
He would still earn the win.
Josh Forgy took care of the bottom of the 10th for his third save.

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Record: 67-91, 7th, 18 GB Springfield
Cayden Wallace snapped a 1-1 tie with a two-run home runs off St. Louis starting pitcher Jerry Tate in the bottom of the fourth inning, and Milwaukee went on for a 5-2 win at Miller Park.
Jose Flores had led off the bottom of the fourth with a single.
Wallace was the next hitter, and he bashed a 3-1 pitch 423 feet over the wall in left center to put the Crushers in front for good.
Milwaukee pushed its lead to 4-1 during the next inning.
Rogelio Mercardo and Nicolas Thibault led off the inning with back-to-back doubles off Tate.
That advantage reached 5-1 in the seventh.
Mercardo connected for another lead-off double, this time off reliever Oscar Martinez.
He later scored on a one-out single by Jose Flores off Kevin Baker.
River Walkers rookie Hector Tavarez homered off Crushers reliever Chad Bigalow to lead off the ninth, making the 5-2 final.
Milwaukee starting pitcher Justin Wrobelski had to exit after two scoreless innings due to back spasps.
Five relievers combined to finish the game.
Caleb Walker handled the third through fifth innings.
Jeff Munn pitched a scoreless sixth.
Former St. Louis starting pitcher Zack Hunsicker took care of the seventh and eighth without allowing a run.
Bigalow got just the one out in the ninth, along with giving up the Tavares homer.
Joseph King closed the door for his 23rd save.

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Rockford's 4-3 win over Madison on Sept. 28 clinched not only National League North Division title, but also the first playoff berth in Lightning franchise history.
The victory gave Rockford (95-62) a six-game lead over Twin Cities with five games left in the season.
The Lightning, who own the best record in the Midwest Baseball League, also are assured of home-field advantage in the National League playoffs.
Their record is 10 games better than both Springfield and Cedar Rapids (85-73), who are tied for first place in the NL South Division.

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Record: 67-92, 7th, 19 GB Springfield
Milwaukee pummeled St. Louis starting pitcher Ronald Crossingham for six runs in the first four innings, and the Crushers rode that to a 9-5 win at Miller Park.
The victory gave the Crushers wins in the final two games of their three-game series with the River Walkers.
Erik Rivera scored the first run of the game for Milwaukee, leading off the bottom of the first with a single off Crossingham.
A bunt moved Rivera to second.
He scored on a two-out single by Pete Crow-Armstrong.
The Crushers busted the game open by scoring three times in both the third and fourth innings.
Nicolas Thibault hit a two-run homer off Crossingham in the third.
Drew Mendoza and Cayden Wallace followed the homer with back-to-back doubles to make it 4-0.
In the fourth, Rivera hit the first of his two homers in the game, this one a two-run blast off Crossingham.
Thibault later doubled off Oscar Martinez and scored on a single by Crow-Armstrong, which was misplayed by right fielder Nathaniel Dixon.
A three-run top of the fifth, highlighted by a two-run single by Wes Cohen off Crushers starter George McCardel, did pull St. Louis to within 7-3.
But Milwaukee got back-to-back homers from Rivera and Rogelio Mercado off Nick Ruffalo to open the bottom of the sixth to push the lead back to 9-3.
McCardel didn't pitch long enough to earn the win, allowing three runs on five hits in 4.2 innings.
The victory went to Ed Sutherland (2-0), who finished the fifth and worked the sixth.
Jeff Munn gave up a run while working the seventh.
Scott Mueller kept the Walkers silent in the eighth and ninth to close out the game.

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Record: 68-92, 7th, 19 GB Springfield
A two-run home run from Fernando Tatis Jr. in the top of the first inning staked Des Moines to an early 2-0 lead, but the Harvesters would not score again as St. Louis rallied for a 4-2 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
Justin Oates reached on a one-out single off River Walkers starting pitcher Alex Pazos just ahead of Tatis Jr. 17th homer of the season.
Tatis Jr. charged a 1-0 pitch 407 feet over the wall in left field.
St. Louis pulled to within 2-1 in the bottom of the second.
Jared Thomas singled with two outs off Des Moines starting pitcher Juan Amezquita and scored on a Jovan Gill double.
An inning later, the Walkers took the lead on the fifth homer of the season, a two-run blow, from September callup Hector Tavarez.
Wes Cohen took Amezquita deep with two outs in the fifth to complete the scoring.
Pazos tossed six shutout innings after the Tatis Jr. homer.
Overall, in seven innings Pazos (3-7) allowed the two runs on three hits. He struck out four and didn't walk a batter.
Cory Tiller pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
The Harvesters loaded the bases against Gil Meier in the ninth, but didn't score as the right-hander earned his second save since being called up from AAA.

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Walkers news: Oct. 1 -- Player Development Report

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MBL news: Oct. 1 -- Players and Pitchers of the Month for September

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MBL news: Oct. 1 -- Rookies of the Month for September and standings

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Walkers news: Oct. 1 -- Team statistics for September

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Player of the Month: Jared Thomas -- The 32-year-old catcher batted .289 with three homers, 12 RBIs and 12 runs scored in 20 games. He got on base at a .535 clip and slugged .443.
Starting Pitcher of the Month: Alex Pazos - The 24-year-old rookie went 2-3 in six starts with a 3.43 ERA. He pitched a total of 39.1 innings, during which he struck out 15 and had a 1.09 WHIP.
Relief Pitcher of the Month: Yeison Santos -- The 32-year-old left-hander got into 12 games during which he went 1-0 and had a 1.46 ERA. He pitched 12.1 innings, during which he had a 0.65 WHIP and struck out 15.

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Record: 64-93, 7th, 19 GB Springfield
Chris Rybicki pitched five scoreless innings before exiting with an injury and four relievers combined to complete the shutout, as Des Moines downed St. Louis 4-0 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Rybicki (6-10) allowed just two hits in his five innings. He struck out six and walked one.
The right-hander left the game because of a sore back.
After Rybicki left, Tyson Miller, John Curtiss, Teddy Loetzsch and Travis Krogman all pitched scoreless innings.
St. Louis also got just one hit in that span, a single by Hector Taveras off Loetzch in the eighth.
The Harvesters went up 2-0 against River Walkers starting pitcher Xavier Wigfall in the top of the second.
Jared Poland singled with one out and scored on a Jackson Miller double.
Miller scored when Aaron Bracho followed with a single.
Solo homers from Bracho in the fourth and Kellum Clark accounted for the rest of the scoring.
Wigfall allowed both home runs.

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Record: 69-93, 7th, 18 GB Springfield and Cedar Rapids
Wes Cohen homered twice and St. Louis wrapped up his regular season with a 3-2 win over Des Moines at Busch Stadium (2006).
The win gave the River Walkers victories in the first and third games of the series.
St. Louis' record was easily the worst in its history, as the Walkers finished under .500 for the first time since the establishment of the Midwest Baseball League in 2018.
Cohen, who the Walkers acquired in a trade with Evansville at the trade deadline, hit a solo homer off Harvesters starting pitcher Manny Pescosolido in the third inning and a two-run shot off reliever Craig Burch in the seventh.
His first homer tied the game at 1-1. Cohen's second long ball wiped out a 2-1 deficit.
Cohen was not called up from AAA Memphis until after the Redbirds had been eliminated from the Pacific Coast League playoffs.
In 11 games with the Walkers, Cohen hit .319 with six homers and 13 RBIs.
Cory Tiller (2-3) earned the win after getting the final out of the seventh inning.
Justin Doughtie worked the first three innings for St. Louis, allowing one run on four hits.
After that, with it being the final game of the season, the Walkers made good use of their bullpen.
John Good, Kevin Baker and Scott Rissler all worked scoreless innings.
Nick Ruffalo got the first two outs of the seventh before Tiller took over.
Josh Forgy set the Harvesters down in order in the eighth.
Gil Meier, another mid-Septemeber, call up from Memphis earned his third save.

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The Dayton Pilots defeated the Toledo Mud Hens 5-1 in the final game of the regular-season to clinch the American League East Division title.
The Pilots (91-71) finished with just a one-game advantage over second-place Cleveland.
The Juke Box Heroes fell 6-1 in their finale, dropping them out of a first-place tie for the division lead.
The playoff berth is Dayton's first since 2018, the inaugural season for the Midwest Baseball League.
The Pilots will open the American League championship series on the road against Grand Rapids.
The Traders won the AL West Division with a 96-66 record.

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MBL news: Oct. 3 -- Final standings and power rankings
There will be a one-game playoff for the National League South Division title between the Springfield Railers and Cedar Rapids Grapplers.

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The Cedar Rapids Grapplers claimed the National League South Division title with a 6-1 win over the Springfield Railers in a one-game playoff held at Oracle Park (2020) in Springfield.
The Grapplers and Railers had finished in a tie atop the NL South with identical 88-75 records.
The victory sends Cedar Rapids on the road for the NL championship series, where Games 1 and 2 will be hosted by NL North champ Rockford.
The Lightning posted the best record in the Midwest Baseball League by finishing 98-64.
The postseason berth for the Grapplers is their first since 2019.

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MBL news: Oct. 4 -- Final American League leaders

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MBL news: Oct. 4 -- Final National League leaders