2033 St. Louis River Walkers: And the saga continues

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MBL news: April 1 -- Final spring training standings

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Walkers news: April 1 -- Player development report

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Walkers news: April 1 -- 2033 individual spring training statistics

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MBL news: April 4 -- Preseason predictions on opening day

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I am foregoing, the long preseason prognostication on the roster and am just posting some info which might tell what the team might be like.

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Record: 0-1, 5th (tied/w. Springfield and Quad City), 1 GB Des Moines and Louisville
Tied 3-3, defending MBL World Series champion Des Moines exploded for nine runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and rode that to a 13-4 rout of St. Louis at Green Canyon Park.
Shut out through three innings, the River Walkers went up 3-2 in the top of the fourth on a three-run homer from Nick Shaw off Harvesters starting pitcher Manny Pescosolido.
Des Moines tied it in the bottom of the fifth when Trent Rowan led off the inning with a single off St. Louis starting Angel Tiburcio and later scored on a Fernando Tatis Jr. ground out.
The Harvesters then went to work against Tiburcio in the bottom of the sixth, beginning with a lead-off homer from Rafael Devers.
The next three Des Moines batters reached bases -- Steve Carroll drew a walk before Orlando Torres and Hector Alvarado hit consecutive doubles -- before Tiburcio made his exit.
Ricky Cisneros took over and was even worse allowing all six of the batters he faced -- five singles and a walk -- as four more runs scored.
Still without an out in the inning, Cory Tiller took over for the Walkers.
He got an out, actually two by getting Steve Carroll to hit into a double play, but another run scored.
After a walk to Orlando Torres, Hector Alvarado singled to plate the inning's ninth run.
Pescosolido worked five innings allowing three runs on thee hits. He struck out seven and walked one.
Juan Amezquita (1-0), who a year ago went 12-6 as part of the Harvesters rotation but has not moved to the bullpen, worked a scoreless sixth to earn the win.
Yuki Matsui worked two innings, and allowed a solo homer to Alex Greene in the eighth.
Andrew McDaniel set St. Louis down in order in the ninth.

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Record: 0-2, 6th (Tied/w. Springfield), 2 GB Des Moines
Trailing 1-0, Des Moines scored three runs in the bottom of the second inning and it remained that way the rest of the way as the Harvesters downed St. Louis 3-1 at Green Canyon Park.
Des Moines benefited from three walks -- one intentional -- from River Walkers starting pitcher Jesse McNaboe in its big inning.
Kellum Clark drew a free pass to lead off the inning.
A one-out infield single from Steve Carroll moved him to second.
Orlando Torres tied it with a double, scoring Clark.
Hector Alvarado was issued an intentional pass to load the bases, with pitcher Marshall Larcombe up next.
Larcombe made St. Louis pay with an RBI single.
Jackson Miller drove in the inning's third run when he drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs.
Larcombe turned in an extended outing on the mound, throwing 121 pitches over 7.1 innings.
He allowed just the first inning run and three hits. He struck out eight and walked five.
Eric LaFollette finished off the eighth for the Harvesters.
Former Walker reliever Travis Krogman allowed St. Louis to load the bases in the ninth, but ended the game with a strike out of Alex Greene for his first save.

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Record: 0-3,7th, 3 GB Des Moines
Des Moines pounded St. Louis starting pitcher Zach Hunsicker for seven runs in a little over three innings, as the Harvesters completed a three-game opening series sweep of the River Walkers with an 11-4 rout at Green Canyon Park.
Des Moines wasted no times getting after Hunsicker taking control with a three-run bottom of the first inning.
Justin Oates opened the bottom of the frame with a double.
A Jackson Miller single moved Oates to third, and he scored on a Fernando Tatis Jr. fly ball.
Following a walk to Kellum Clark, Rafael Devers plated the inning's other two runs with a triple.
The Harvesters added two more runs off Hunsicker in the third and fourth innings.
Clark led off the third with his first homer of the season.
Devers followed with a single.
A passed ball by catcher Jared Thomas moved Devers to second.
An error by third baseman Jovan Gill on a ball hit by Steve Carroll moved Devers to third.
Orlando Torres picked up the RBI with a run-scoring ground out to second.
Hunsicker was done two batters into the fourth.
Miller drew a lead-off walk. Tatis Jr. followed with his first home run of the season, making it 7-1.
The Harvesters' biggest lead came at 10-1 after Devers hit a three-run homer off reliever Ricky Cisneros.
Des Moines starting pitcher Albert Hernandez (1-0) allowed one run on six hits over six innings.
Juan Amesquita worked the seventh inning, giving up the second St. Louis run.
Arturo Velanzuela gave up two runs in the eighth on a homer by Daniel Becerra.
Velanzuela pitched a scoreless ninth.

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Record: 0-4, 7th (Tied/w. Kansas City), 3 GB Des Moines
Down 4-1, Quad City exploded for six runs in the bottom of the third inning as the Thunder rolled to a 9-5 win over St. Louis at Fenway Park (1975).
The big inning continued to haunt the River Walkers (0-4), as they've allowed innings of three runs or more four times in as many games.
In this one it was starting pitcher Jerry Tate who took the brunt of the damage,
Beginning with consecutive doubles from Chase Davis, Ben Nelson and Nick Gonzalez to open the inning , he allowed four straight batters to reach base before being pulled.
Gonzalez's double scored two.
Gabriel Hagan followed that with a single before a walk to Paul Totten loaded the bases.
Tate was diagnosed with a forearm injury after the game and is expected to miss a week.
Nick Ruffalo took over and struck out Jacob Gonzalez for the inning's first out.
The Thunder then went back to work, Bobby Wescott stroking a two-run single to make it 5-4 Q-C.
The inning's fourth double, this one from Chris Shelley, drove in the final two runs of the outburst as the Thunder went up 7-4.
An RBI single from Nick Shaw off Ashcraft in the top of the fourth drew St. Louis to within 7-5.
QC would add insurance runs in the sixth (Ben Nelson with an RBI single off Yeison Santos) and seventh (Harry Christensen with an run-scoring double off Luke Dunkin).
Ashcraft did not last long enough to earn the win, allowing five run on nine hits in just 3.2 innings. That went to Jaden Foster (1-0), who allowed two hits and no runs over 2.1 innings.
Scott Reeves and Bob Rios both pitched scoreless frames.
Bobby Stover (0.2 IP) and Craig Fritzler (0-1) took care of the ninth.

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Record: 0-5, 6th (Tied/w. Kansas City), 4 GB Des Moines
The St. Louis River Walkers start of the season continued to be a major struggle, as they dropped to 0-5 with a 5-1 loss to Quad City at Fenway Park (1975).
St. Louis actually jumped out to a 1-0 lead after Nathaniel Dixon led off the game with a homer.
The Thunder tied it in the bottom half when Chase Davis answered with a solo blast of his own with one out off Walkers starter Xavier Wigfall.
An inning later, it was 2-0 after Gabriel Hagan led off with a single and later scored on a two-out single by Bobby Wescott.
It remained 2-1 until the bottom of the seventh, when QC did the remainder of its scoring.
Hagan drew a lead-off walk from Wigfall to open the inning.
Hagan stole second while Wigfall was retiring the next two batters before issuing an intentional walk to Wescott.
Xavier Santos took over, but was greeted by a pinch-hit triple by Harry Christensen.
Christensen later scored on a single by Davis.
Thunder starting pitcer Victor Padilla (1-0) went 6.2 innings, allowing one run on eight hits. He struck out six and walked five.
Scott Reeves got the final out of the seventh.
Terry Zahnow worked a scoreless eighth.
Jaden Foster started the ninth for the Thunder, and got two outs but also managed to load the bases.
Craig Fritzler had to come on and strike out Jared Thomas to end it, earning himself his second save.

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Record: 1-5, 5th (Tied/w. Kansas City and Springfield), 4 GB Des Moines
Trailing 1-0, St. Louis scored four times in the top of the fourth inning to take the lead, and held on for a 7-5 win over Quad City at Fenway Park (1975).
The loss enabled the River Walkers to avoid a three-game sweep and come home from a six-game road trip to open the season 1-5.
Jose Ramirez got things going in the fourth with a lead-off walk from Thunder starting pitcher Pascal Marcovicci.
Ramirez later moved to third on a Nick Shaw single.
Daniel Becerra tied it with a single.
Jovan Gill followed that with his first homer of the season, a three-run shot which put the Walkers ahead 4-1.
Jose Segura hit his first home run of the season in the fourth, a two-run job also off Marcovicci, to make it 6-1.
A run in the bottom of the fourth off Walkers starter Angel Tiburcio followed by two more in the fifth drew QC within 6-4.
St. Louis got one of those runs back in the sixth, when Alex Greene singled to lead off the inning off David Marcona and scored on a two-out double by Shaw.
An RBI double from Ben Nelson in the seventh off Ricky Cisneros made it 7-5.
Tiburcio (1-1) wasn't great but he was much better than in his first start of the season.
He pitched five innings, actually worked into the sixth, allowing five runs on seven hits. He struck out three and walked six.
Cisneros worked 1.1 innings, before giving way to Luke Dunkin who finished the seventh and pitched a scoreless eighth.
Closer Ernesto Barbosa made his first appearance of the season and earned his first save.
Kyren Paris, signed as a free agent in the off-season by St. Louis to replace Jean Carmona at shortstop, was injured while running the bases and was forced to leave the game.
No information on his injury was available at game's end.

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MBL news: Week 1 -- Awards and standings

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Record: 2-5, 5th (Tied/w. Springfield and Kansas City), 4 GB Des Moines
Jose Ramirez connected on a bases-loaded one-out RBI single to cap a two-run bottom of the ninth inning to lift St. Louis to a 3-2 win over Louisville at Busch Stadium (2006).
Down 2-1, Jose Segura opened the bottom of the ninth with a double off Sluggers reliever Brian Rose.
He scored on a one-out double by pinch-hitter Nathaniel Dixon.
A single by Alex Greene, followed by a walk to Daniel Becerra loaded the bases.
Matt Ray came on to face Ramirez.
But his 1-1 pitch was lined into right field to score Dixon with the winning run.
Louisville had gone up 2-1 on a home run by Bradley Mondesir off Luke Dunkin to lead off the top of the eighth.
Jesse McNaboe turned in a good start for the Walkers, allowing one run on six hits over 6.2 innings. He struck out five and walked one.
Nick Ruffalo got the final out of the seventh.
Dunkin recorded just one out in the eighth.
Josh Forgy had to come on and finish that inning, and keep it 2-1.
Forgy also recorded the first out of the ninth.
Cory Tiller (1-0) notched the other two, setting himself up to earn the win.

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Record: 3-5, 3rd (Tied/w. Kansas City, Springfield, Quad City and Louisville), 4 GB Des Moines
For the second game in a row, Jose Ramirez provided a walk-off hit for St. Louis, his lead-off homer in the bottom of the 10th inning giving the River Walkers a 5-4 win over Louisville at Busch Stadium (1996).
In their previous game against the Sluggers, it was a one-out single in the bottom of the ninth by Ramirez which had given St. Louis a 4-3 win.
Ramirez's game-winning hit in this one came on a 3-2 pitch from Louisville reliver Danny Enciso. It travelled 433 feet over the wall in left-center.
The Walkers had tied the game in the bottom of the eighth on an two-out RBI single from Jose Segura off reliever Matt Ray.
That hit scored Kyren Paris, who had doubled just in front of Segura.
St. Louis starting pitcher Zack Hunsicker pitched 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He struck out five and walked the same.
Yeison Santos got the final two outs of the sixth.
Scott Rissler pitched a scoreless seventh and gave a solo homer to Yanwinkle in the eighth which put the Sluggers ahead 4-3.
Rissler got the first two outs of the eighth.
Nick Ruffalo finished that innings, and worked a scoreless ninth.
Josh Forgy (1-0) sent Louisville down in order in the 10th.

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Record: 4-5, 3rd (Tied/w. Springfield), 4 GB Des Moines
Tied 8-8, Daniel Becerra and Jose Segura hit back-to-back home runs with one out in the bottom seventh inning to help lift St. Louis to an 11-8 win over Louisville at Busch Stadium (2006).
The win gave the River Walkers a sweep of the three-game series.
Both homers came off Sluggers relief pitcher Joe Wahl.
Thanks to a six-run bottom of the second, St. Louis at one point led 7-0.
A grand slam from Jared Thomas off Louisville starter Myles Wilson was the big hit of that second inning.
The Sluggers climbed back into it, and tied it on a Bobby Chapman solo homer off Luke Dunkin with one out in the top of the seventh.
Jose Ramirez tripled off Danny Enciso and later scored on an error by shortstop Steve Via in the eighth, making it 11-8.
Called up from Triple AAA Memphis to start for the injury Jerry Tate, Alex Pazos allowed one run through the first four innings before getting bombed for six runs in the fifth.
Altogether, he allowed seven runs on nine hits over 4.1 innings.
Dunkin finished the fifth inning and got the first out of the seventh.
Ricky Cisneros (1-0) provided 1.2 innings of scoreless relief.
Ernesto Barbosa was perfect in the ninth for his second save.

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Record: 5-5, 3rd, 3.5 GB Des Moines
Daniel Becerra snapped a 1-1 tie with a two-out solo home runs off Twin Cities relief pitcher Rhett Daniel, and St. Louis went on for a 2-1 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
The win was the fifth in a row for the River Walkers, matching their five-game losing streak to open the season.
St. Louis had gone out in front in the bottom of the second.
A double by Jose Segura followed by two walks from Snow Cats starting pitcher Keegan Jensen had loaded the bases.
A balk scored Segura with the game's first run.
Twin Cities tied it in the top of the third.
Kurt Baty bunted for a hit to lead off the inning.
He stole second and scored on Mike Satain's single off St. Louis starter Xavier Wigfall.
Wigfall (1-1) pitched well, allowing the one run on seven hits over six innings. He struck out seven and walked two.
Yeison Santos pitched a scoreless seventh for the Walkers.
Josh Forgy (0.2 IP) and Cory Tiller (0.1) combined to do the same in the eighth.
Ernesto Barbosa's perfect ninth earned him his third save in as many chances.

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Record: 5-6, 3rd, 4.5 GB Des Moines
Twin Cities roughed up St. Louis starting pitcher Angel Tiburcio for five runs over the first three innings, and the Snow Cats rode that to a 7-2 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
The loss snapped a five-game win streak for the River Walkers.
Coming off a season where he missed more than half the campaign with bone chips in his throwing arm, Tiburcio's re-signing has been nothing short of a disaster for the Walkers.
The 32-year-old three-time Cy Young winner has lost two of his three starts and owns a 9.56 ERA, although it did drop below 10.00 after this outing.
The Snow Cats scored two runs on three hits in the first inning.
Daniel Sanabria drove in the first run with a single, while Jeff Waddell plated the other with a fly ball.
Roc Riggio hit a two-out homer in the second to make it 3-0.
The third saw Twin Cities again score two runs on three hits.
Jim Peebles led off the inning with a homer.
Sanabria later singled and scored on a Kurt Baty fly ball.
Leading 6-1, the Cats final two runs came in the top of the ninth on a two-run, two-out double by Jeff Friedman off reliever Luke Dunkin.
Twin Cities starting pitcher Joel Wisniewski (1-2) lasted five innings, allowing one run on two hits. He struck out six and walked one.
Four relievers -- Mason Montgomery (1.1 IP), Jose Castaneda (0.2), Jesse Gaither (1.2) and Gilberto Carballo (0.1) -- combined to finish the game.

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Record: 5-7, 5th, 4.5 GB Des Moines
Starting pitcher Travis Mayr shut out St. Louis on two hits over 7.1 innings, and the Snow Cats won 2-1 over the River Walkers at Busch Stadium (2006).
The win was the second of the three-game series for Twin Cities.
Mayr (2-0) has allowed just one run over 22.1 innings this season giving him a 0.40 ERA.
The only hits he allowed to the Walkers, were a lead-off single to Jovan Gill in the fifth inning and a lead-off double to Kyren Paris in the eighth.
Following the double, Mayr struck out Kevin Melendez before exiting the game.
Jose Castaneda took over and retired the next two to keep the score 2-0.
St. Louis did get something going against Jim Messina in the ninth.
Nick Shaw singled with one out and scored on a Daniel Becerra two-out triple.
Messia, however, struck out Gill for his second save of the season.
Twin Cities went up early on a two-run homer from Jim Peebles off Walkers starter Jesse McNaboe with one out in the top of the first.
Roc Riggio doubled to lead off the game, setting himself up to score on Peebles fourth homer of the season.

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MBL news: Week 2 -- Awards and standings

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Record: 5-8, 5th, 5.5 GB Des Moines
Sean Hopkins shut out St. Louis over four hits over eight innings, and Peoria downed the River Walkers 4-0 at Busch Stadium (1996).
Hopkins (2-0) allowed one double and three singles during his time on the mound. He struck out four and walked three.
He also drove in the game's first two runs with a two-out double off Walkers starting pitcher Zack Hunsicker in the bottom of the second inning.
Former Walker Lenyn Crisp handled the ninth, pitching around a lead-off walk to preserve the shutout.
Ryan Palmer drove in Peoria's other two runs, with an RBI double in the third and run-scoring single in the fifth.
Hunsicker allowed all four of the Rivermen's runs.