2033 St. Louis River Walkers: And the saga continues

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The St. Louis River Walkers will begin the 2034 season without second baseman Daniel Becerra, who suffered a hamstring strain during a 5-0 win over Des Moines on March 29.
Becerra, 33, is expected to miss up to four weeks.
In 2033, Becerra enjoyed a good season for the Walkers hitting .288 with 22 homers and 71 RBIs in 133 games.
For his career, Becerra is a .254 hitter with 122 home runs and 417 RBIs in 1,063 games.
Becerra played for Springfield from 2025 through 2030, before being acquired by St. Louis in an offseason trade.

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Walkers news: March 30 -- Peoria 6, St. Louis 5, (19-11)

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MBL news: March 31 -- Final spring training standings and leaders

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Walkers news: March 31 -- Spring training individual statistics

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MBL news: April 3 -- Preseason predictions on opening day

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Walkers news: April 1 -- Player development report

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The St. Louis River Walkers have traded right-handed starting pitcher Jerry Tate and righty relief pitcher Glenn Dunn to the Milwaukee Crushers in exchange for minor league outfielder Jason Suggs and 1B/3B Cody Craft.
Neither Tate or Dunn were going to make the Walkers' opening day roster. It was felt it was better to trade them, rather than send them to AAA.
Tate, 31, has been part of the Walkers rotation for the past two seasons.
In 2033, the righty went 6-13 in 29 starts with a 4.54 ERA.
For his MBL career, Tate has made 55 starts and gone 19-18 with a 3.99 ERA.
The Walkers signed Dunn as a free agent in the off-season, but he lost his spot in the major league roster when Cory Tiller decided to opt out of free agency and return to the Walkers.
Dunn, 31, split the 2033 season between Cleveland and Indianapolis.
He pitched in a total of 65 games, going 7-3 with two saves and a 5.76 ERA.
In a MBL career which dates back to 2027, Dunn, who also has pitched for Fort Wayne, has worked in 434 games going 37-1 with 17 saves and a 3.81 ERA.
Suggs, 25, is left-handed hitter who has primarily played left field.
He spent all of one game in 2033 playing at AA Reading, where he hit .286 with 25 homers and 86 RBIs in 131 games.
A second-round pick in the 2027 draft, Suggs has played in 720 minor league contests and has hit .284 with 147 homers and 517 RBIs.
Selected in the fifth round of the 2028 draft, Craft hit .300 with eight homers and 65 in 2033 while playing in Class AA and High A.
In 500 career minor-league games, Craft has hit. 306 with 63 homers and 318 RBIs.

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Walkers news: April 1 -- Opening day Roster

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Walkers news: April 1 -- Lineups, pitching staff and coaching staff

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Walkers news: April 3 -- Other reports

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Record: 0-1, 4th (Tied/w. Springfield and Des Moines), 1 GB Cedar Rapids and Quad City
Quad City pounded St. Louis starting pitcher Jesse McNaboe for six runs in the first two innings, and the Thunder went on for a 9-5 win on Opening Day at Fenway Park (1976).
Christian Moore hit a two-out homer off McNaboe in the bottom of the first inning to open the scoring.
The Thunder then really went to work in the second.
Gabriel Hagan opened the inning with a single.
After a fly out, McNaboe issued a pair of walks to load the bases.
Pitcher Pascal Marcovicci then drove in a pair with a double.
After Chris Shelley for the second out, the Thunder put four straight batters on base -- including RBI singles by Moore and Paul Totten and a bases-loaded walk to Gabriel Hagan -- to go up 6-0.
RBI singles from Kyren Paris and pinch-hitter Dan Hillard in the top of the seventh off reliever Edwin Cervantes drew the River Walkers back to within 6-3.
A fly ball by Clay Owens off Oscar Martinez in the bottom of the seventh drove in a run, making it 7-3.
St. Louis made it 8-4 in the top of the eighth.
Eric Peretz tripled off Terry Zahnow and scored on a Nick Shaw fly ball.
But a two-run double from Hagan off Nick Ruffalo in the bottom of the inning, pretty much sealed it for QC.
Marcovicci (1-0) pitched 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on four hits. He struck out six and didn't issue a walk.
Edwin Cervantes finished off the seventh for the Thunder.
Zahnow pitched the eighth and recorded the first out of the ninth.
After that, it was an out apiece from Bobby Stover and Craig Fritzler to close out the win.
Fritzler picked up the save.

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Record: 1-1, 1st (tied/w. Quad City, Cedar Rapids and Des Moines), 0.5 GA Louisville and Kansas City
Nick Shaw connected on a sacrifice fly to score Freudis Nova from third base and help give St. Louis a 4-3 win over Quad City in 11 innings at Fenway Park (1976).
Nova had reached base after drawing a one-out walk from Terry Zahnow.
The next batter, Eric Peretz, reached when left fielder Jesse Hedrick dropped his fly ball.
A second walk, this one to Jose Ramirez, loaded the bases.
Edwin Cervantes took over for Zahnow
But Shaw jumped on his first pitch and hit it deep enough to right to allow Nova to score.
In the bottom of the 11th, River Walkers allowed a pair of singles to open the inning before retiring the next two.
Nick Ruffalo got the call to close it out, and struck out Clay Owens to end it and earn himself a save.
Earlier, it looked like Shaw was going to win it when he hit a two-run homer off Craig Fritzler in the top of the 10th as St. Louis went in front 3-1.
But QC tied it in the bottom of the half lashing out three hits off Gil Meier.
The third hit, a single from Hedrick, scored two and tied the score.
St. Louis got a strong start from Jim Martin, but let him face one batter too many.
Leading 1-0 with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Rich Contreras homered to tie the score.
The Walkers had gone up 1-0 in the top of the eighth on a two-out double from Tommy Dubose off Thunder relief pitcher James Bowman.
Martin, making his debut with the Walkers, allowed one run on three hits in 7.2 innings. He struck out five and walked one.
Cory Tiller finished the eighth and worked a scoreless ninth.
Meier (1-0) blew the lead, but got the win thanks to Shaw's sac fly.

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Record: 1-2, 3rd (Tied/w. Springfield and Des Moines), 1 GB Cedar Rapids and Quad City
Trailing 3-1, Quad City pummeled St. Louis starting pitcher Shane Drogo for five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and rode that to a 7-5 win at Fenway Park (1976).
The win gave the Thunder victories in two of three games in the series.
Nathaniel Dixon's two-run homer off QC starting pitcher Mike Koontz had given the River Walkers their 3-1 lead.
It didn't last long.
Drogo hit the inning's first batter Travis Levine with the second pitch of the inning.
Levine then stole second and moved to third on a Chris Shelley single.
After a fly out by Christian Moore, Paul Totten drew a walk to load the bases.
Ben Nelson then drew a second straight walk, driving in a run to make it 3-2.
Angel Solis hit into a force play, with Shelley being retired at the plate.
Tim Tawa, however, followed with an inside-the-park home run into right field.
Suddenly, Quad City led 6-3.
The Thunder's lead would grow to 7-3 -- Clay Owens led off the bottom of the eighth with a single, moved to third on a Jordan Quinto double and scored on a Rich Contreras fly -- before St. Louis scored again.
That made Tommy DuBose two-run homer off James Bowman in the top of the ninth much less damaging.
Koontz (1-0) earned the win, allowing three runs on five hits over five innings.
After that, it was a scoreless inning from Cole Duensing, two silent innings from Mike Nuzman before Bowman pitched the ninth.

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Record: 1-3, 4th (Tied/w. Springfield, Louisville and Des Moines), 2 GB Quad City and Cedar Rapids
Down 2-0, Cedar Rapids put up three runs off St. Louis starting pitcher Xavier Wigfall in the bottom of the fourth inning, and the Grapplers went on for a 4-2 win at Connie Mack Stadium (1960).
Back-to-back home runs from Freudis Nova and Jose Ramirez off Cedar Rapids starter Victor Ortiz in the top of the fourth staked St. Louis to that 2-0 lead.
But after three innings without a hit against Wigfall, the Grapplers opened the bottom of the fourth with consecutive singles from Jordan Batista and Jose Morillo.
Two batters later, both walks to Eric Gerhardt and Travis Swaggerty, and Cedar Rapids was on the board.
David Henderson then tied it with a deep fly ball.
Wigfall's third walk of the inning, to Steven Williams, reloaded the bases.
Mark Hill put Cedar Rapids in front with a single to score Gerhardt.
The Grapplers added an insurance run off Wigfall in the fifth.
Jordan Batista reached on an error by second baseman Tommy DuBose to open the inning.
Batista stole second and scored on a single by Swaggerty.
Ortiz lasted just 4.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits. He struck out four and walked one.
Jordyn Ibarra (1-0) earned the win after finishing the fifth inning and working a scoreless sixth.
After that, it was a scoreless inning apiece from Lorenzo Mascorro, Ian Goshe and Keith Birby to close out the win.
It was Kirby's first save of the season.

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Record: 1-4, 5th (Tied/w. Springfield and Louisville), 3 GB Quad City and Cedar Rapids
Jordan Batista hit a walk-off home run off St. Louis relief pitcher Cory Tiller with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, giving Cedar Rapids a 9-8 win at Connie Mack Stadium (1960).
St. Louis jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first, but by the end of three innings Cedar Rapids had taken the lead.
A two-run home run from Jose Segura off Cedar Rapids starting pitcher Edwin Cora capped the River Walkers' first-inning outburst.
The Grapplers' David Henderson topped that blast with a three-run homer off Angel Tiburcio in the bottom of the first.
Two innings later, Jose Morillo hit a two-run homer and Eric Gerhardt a soo shot, also off Tiburcio, as Cedar Rapids went up 6-5.
Miguel Mena hit a two-run homer off reliever Nick Ruffalo in the sixth, extending the Grapplers' advantage to 8-5.
Nick Shaw hit the first of two late-game homers in the top of the seventh, off Anton Melendez, a two-run job to make it 8-7.
Shaw connected for his second homer of the game, tying it at 9-9, off Keith Kirby in the top of the ninth.
Batista ended it in the bottom of the ninth, hitting a 2-0 pitch from Tiller 422 feet over the wall in left-center field.
Cora lasted just 2.1 innings, allowing five runs on six hits.
Lorenzo Mascorro finished off the third inning.
Joel Glenn came up big with three scoreless innings, getting it to the sixth.
After that, like the previous game, it was an inning apiece from Anton Melendez, Antonio Echevaria and Kirby.
Kirby (1-0) came out of it with his first win of the season.

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Record: 1-5, 6th (Tied/w. Louisville), 4 GB Quad City and Cedar Rapids
Trailing 3-2, Cedar Rapids scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and added five more in the seventh as the Grapplers completed a three-game sweep of St. Louis at Connie Mack Stadium (1960).
A Freudis Nova RBI double off Cedar Rapids starting pitcher Justin Sterner in the top of the sixth had put the River Walkers ahead 3-2.
Travis Swaggerty wiped out that lead and put the Grapplers in front with a two-run double off St. Louis reliever Cory Tiller in the bottom of the sixth.
Cedar Rapids then piled it on in the seventh, scoring five run on three hits ad benefiting from three walks and two wild pitches.
Six St. Louis pitchers combined for 10 walks and four wild pitches in the game.
As for those seventh-inning runs, one scored on a wild pitch and two scored on a Eric Gerhardt double and the last two scored on a Swaggerty double.
Both of the run-scoring hits came off Zachary Stella.
St. Louis scored three runs in the eighth to pull within 9-6.
Sterner (2-0) lasted six innings, allowing three runs on four hits. He struck out six and walked the same.
Billy Weiner worked a scoreless seventh for the Grapplers.
ai-fei Liu got the first out of the eighth, while the other two were recorded by Ian Goshe.
Antonio Echevaria earned his first save in the ninth.

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MBL news: April 10 -- Week 1 Awards and standings

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Record: 1-6, 6th (Tied/w. Louisville), 5 GB Cedar Rapids
Down 1-0, Des Moines scored two run in the top of the fourth inning and that was the end of scoring, as the Harvesters defeated St. Louis -1 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Steve Carroll opened the top of the fourth inning with a single off River Walkers starting pitcher Jim Martin.
He scored when Michael Brooks followed with another single, which featured an error by left fielder Jose Ramirez as Brooks scored all the way from first base.
Brooks moved to third on a Aaron Nixon ground out.
Franklin Flores put the Harvesters ahead with the third single of the inning.
Des Moines starting pitcher Rich Nelson (2-0) allowed one run on four hits over the first six innings.
Casey Owens kept St. Louis off the scoreboard in the seventh and eighth.
The ninth belonged to Mario Reyes, who posted his second save.

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The game on April 11 between the Des Moines Harvesters and St. Louis River Walkers scheduled to be played at Busch Stadium (2006), has been postponed by rain.
The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on April 12.

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Record: 1-7, 6th, 6.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Tied 1-1, Des Moines took the lead with a run in the fourth inning, and later busted it open with a four-runs sixth as the Harvesters downed St. Louis 8-2 in the opening game of a doubleheader at Busch Stadium (2006).
The loss was the sixth in a row for the River Walkers.
Fernando Tatis Jr. scored the tie-breaking run in the fourth.
He led off with a single, and moved to second on another single, this one from Leo Cerna, both off St. Louis starting pitchr Shane Drogo.
Jackson Miller hit into a double play, moving Tatis Jr. to third.
He scored on a wild pitch while Willie Martinez was at he plate.
The Harvesters put its first six batters on base against Drogo in the sixth.
Michael Brooks set it in motion with a lead-off home run.
After that, it was a double by Jared Poland, a single by Tatis Jr. and an RBI double by Cerna.
Miller then drew a walk before Martinez drove in a pair with a double to make it 6-1.
It's lead at 6-2, Kellum Clark drove in the game's final two runs with a single off Zachary Stella in the eighth.
Des Moines starting pitcher Keith Talley (1-1) worked the first six innings, allowing two runs on three hits. He struck out five and walked two.
Brad Beshirs worked a scoreless seventh.
Ozzie Contrera didn't allow a base runner in the eighth or ninth.