2031 St. Louis River Walkers: The ring is the thing

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MBL news: Oct. 7 -- St. Louis River Walkers lineups and 2031 statistics

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MBL news: Oct. 7 -- Cleveland Guitar Heroes final team statistical rankings

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MBL news: Oct. 7 -- Fort Wayne Mad Men final team statistical rankings

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MBL news: Oct. 7 -- Twin Cities Snow Cats final team statistical rankings

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MBL news: Oct. 7 -- St. Louis River Walkers final team statistical rankings

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Record: St. Louis leads series 1-0
Steven Rossi hit a three-run homer and Rick Scott a two-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning to propel St. Louis to a 5-3 win over Twin Cities in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series at Busch Stadium (1997).
Trailing 1-0 and without a hit, Daniel Becerra got things rolling for the River Walkers with a one-out single off Snow Cats starting pitcher Keegan Jensen in the bottom of the fourth.
Jose Segura drew a walk to put two runners aboard.
Steve Rossi then hit a 1-1 pitch 383 feet over the wall in left to put St. Louis in front.
Later in the inning, Jared Thomas singled with two outs and scored when Rick Scott followed with a two-run homer.
Outside the one run, which came on a Jeff Waddell homer in the top of the second, the Walkers got a strong start from Angel Tiburcio.
TIburcio (1-0) allowed the one run on two hits over six innings. He struck out seven and walked two.
However, Tiburcio did go out to start the seventh, and allowed a lead-off single to Jeff Freidman.
The Cats then went to work against righty reliever Robby Albararran.
Drew Bowser greeted Albarran with a single
That moved Friedman to third..
Then after a fly out, Friedman and Bowser pulled off a double steal with the Walkers catcher, Thomas, throwing the ball into center moved Bowser to third.
A single from Bruce Navarete scored Bowser to make it 5-3.
Albarran then walked Aaron Watson to put runners at first and second.
Yeison Santos was called upon to put out fire, and he pulled it off getting pinch-hitter Edwin Nieto to fly out to end the inning.
After that, the Walkers got through the final two innings without much happening.
Elian Acosta got the first two outs of the eighth before allowing a single to Friedman.
Josh Grissom got the call and induced a flyout from Bowser.
Closer Ernesto Barbosa pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to end it, and earn a save.

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The St. Louis River Walkers received some bad news regarding the recovery of star left fielder Jose Ramirez, as he recovers from a broken hand suffered on August 30.
Ramirez, 28, is expected to miss at least three more months after having surgery in the next few days.
It won't have any bearing on the ongoing postseason, since the timetable for Ramirez's return at the earliest was in November.
Hopefully, he'll be ready for the start of spring training in late-February.
At the time of his injury, Ramirez was batting .268 with 33 homers and 82 RBIs in 120 games.

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Record: Series tied 1-1
Twin Cities starting pitcher Joel Wisniewski shut out St. Louis over the first five innings and the River Walkers didn't until the bottom of the eighth, by which time they trailed 5-0, as the Snow Cats evened the National League Championship Series with a 5-1 win at Busch Stadium (1997).
The Cats went up right away with a run in the top of the first inning off St. Louis starting pitcher Izzy San Juan.
Mike Sartain scored the run after he singled with two outs.
A wild pitch moved him to second, and Sartain scored on a Jim Peebles single.
It was Wasniewski (1-0) getting things done until his team scored again in the top of the sixth.
The left-hander came out of the game with a line of five innings, no runs on two hits. He struck out seven and didn't walk a batter.
Twin Cities got its second run in the top of the sixth.
Roc Riggio drew a lead-off walk from San Juan.
He stole second and scored on a two-out single by Peebles.
The Cats broke the game open in the eighth with two homers off Walkers reliever Josh Grissom,
Jeff Friedman struck first with a two-run shot.
Mike Sartain followed with a solo bang to make it 5-0.
The Walkers lone run came in the bottom of the eighth, Steve Rossi with his second homer of the series off, this one coming off reliever Josh Dobbs.
Five relievers combined to finish the game for Twin Cities.
Nick Wilson and Watkins worked the sixth and seventh, respectively.
Dobbs got the first two outs of the eighth.
Jesse Gaither wrapped up that inning and pitched a scoreless ninth.
St. Louis second baseman Daniel Becerra was ejected in the first inning for arguing balls and strikes.
He is expected to receive a suspension.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have been informed second baseman Daniel Becerra will have to sit out the next two games after being suspended for arguing balls-and-strikes in the first inning of his team's 5-1 Game 2 loss of the National League Championship Series.
Veteran Thairo Estrada is expected to take his spot in the St. Louis' lineup.

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MBL news: October 9 -- ALCS Game -- Cleveland takes opener in lopsided manner

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MBL news: ALCS -- Game 2 -- 10-inning win puts Cleveland ahead 2-0

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Series: Twin Cities leads 2-1
Down 2-0, Twin Cities scored four times in the bottom of the fifth inning and rode that to a 5-3 win over St. Louis in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series at Metropolitan Stadium (1977).
The River Walkers grabbed an early 2-0 advantage thanks to solo homers from Steve Rossi and Jordan Groshans off Snow Cats starting pitcher Avery Williams in the top of the first.
But things fell apart for St. Louis in the bottom of the fifth.
Rookie starting Jesse McNaboe, who had fared well up to that point, gave up a lead-off double to Bruce Navarete and a walk to pinch-hitter Aaron Watson to open the inning.
That led to McNaboe's exit for lefty Yeison Santos.
Sants was not good.
He walked Roc Riggio to load the bases.
He then threw a wild pitch to score Navarete.
Jim Peebles then followed with a fly ball, scoring Watson to tie it.
With one more batter to face, Mike Sartain was issued an intentional walk.
Cory Tiller took over, and his first pitch eluded catcher Jared Thomas allowing the runners to move to second and third.
Drew Bowser then pounded a double, scoring them both and putting Cats ahead 4-2.
Twin Cities added an insurance run in the seventh.
Riggio led off with a single off Elian Acosta.
A Sartain double moved Riggio to third.
Friedman lifted a fly ball to the outfield off Josh Grissom to score Riggio and make it 5-2.
St. Louis got its third run in the top of the eighth.
Thomas doubled off Jesse Gathier with one out and scored when pinch-hitter Heston Kjerstad tripled.
But the next five St. Louis batters did nothing - covering the end of the eighth and all three outs in the ninth -- to end it.
Jim Messina earned his first save of the postseason.

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Record: Twin Cities wins series 3-1.
Roc Riggio led off the bottom of the 13th inning with a single and later scored on a Mike Sartain sacrifice fly, as Twin Cities downed St. Louis 6-5 to claim the National League Championship Series with a Game 4 win at Metropolitan Stadium (1977).
With the River Walkers prressed to use Angel Tiburcio, their scheduled Game 5 starter in relief, Riggio connected for his fourth hit of the game to open the inning.
Ricky Cisneros then replaced the weary Tiburcio, only to be greeted by a single from Jim Peebles, which moved Riggio to third.
Sartain followed that by lifting the first pitch he saw into right field to score Riggio with the series-winning run.
The victory moves the Snow Cats into the Midwest Baseball League World Series for the first time. They will meet the Cleveland Juke Box Heroes who swept the Fort Wayne Mad Men to win the ALCS.
Both series were won by the team which did not have home-field advantage. The Cats will have home-field advantage in the best-of-seven World Series.
St. Louis jumped out to a 5-1 lead over 3.5 innings in Game 4.
The Walkers scored two runs apiece in the second and third innings.
Jose Segura hit a two-run homer off Twin Cities starter Keith Brennan in the third.
Rick Scott led off the fourth with another homer off Brennan, making it 5-1.
But the Cats clawed their way back, most of their work being done in the bottom of the fifth when they pieced together three runs on five hits.
Riggio had the big blow with an RBI triple off Walkers starter Zack Hunsicker, which scored Aaron Watson with the inning's first un.
Jim Peebes followed with a third straight hit, scoring Riggio.
Peebles later stole second and scored on a Drew Bowser single.
Twin Cities didn't tie it until the ninth against St. Louis closer Ernesto Barbosa, who blew just three saves in the regular season.
Barbosa retired the inning's first two hitters, but the next two -- Mike Sartain and Jeff Friedman -- both singled.
Drew Bowser then evened it with a double to score Sartain.
Beginning with Brennan, who allowed five runs on four hits over the first three innings, the Cats used nine pitchers, including Game 1 starter Keegan Jensen, who worked a scoreless final three to earn the win.
Jensen (1-1), who like Tiburcio was scheduled to start Game 5, allowed one hit while striking out two.
In between, it was Matt Joyce (1.1 IP), Nick Wilson (0.2), Brian Holllister (1.0), Eric Watkins (1.0), Jim Messina (1.0), Nicio Rodriguez (1.0) and Jesse Gathier (1.0), who combined to shut out St. Louis for seven innings.

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MBL news: Oct. 12 -- NLCS -- Twin Cities defeats St. Louis 3-1

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Series: Cleveland defeats Fort Wayne 3-0
The Cleveland Juke Box Heroes earned the right to defend their 2030 World Series title by completing a sweep of Fort Wayne in the American League Championship Series with a 16-3 win in Game 3 at Cleveland Stadium (1980).
The victory moves the Heroes into the World Series for the second straight season, where they will face the Twin Cities Snow Cats.
The Cats defeated St. Louis, last year's National League champion, in four games to advance to the World Series for the first time in team history.
Both teams won their league championship series despite not having home-field advantage.
Cleveland's only other World Series appearance came in 2030.

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MBL news: Oct. 12 -- ALCS -- Cleveland defeats Fort Wayne 3-0

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MBL news: Oct. 13 World Series preview: Cleveland Juke Box Heroes vs. Twin Cities Snow Cats

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MBL news: Oct. 13 -- World Series preview -- Cleveland Juke Box Heroes lineups and team rankings

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MBL news: Oct. 13 -- World Series preview -- Cleveland Juke Box Heroes 2031 season statistics

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MBL news: Oct. 13 -- World Series preview -- Twin Cities Snow Cats lineup and team rankings