2033 St. Louis River Walkers: And the saga continues

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Record: 12-11, 4th, 4.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Shane Drogo took a perfect game into the top of the seventh inning and St. Louis rode a trio of home runs to a 7-1 win over Dayton at Busch Stadium (2006).
Drogo (2-3) didn't allow a base runner until Mike Wardlaw doubled with one out in the top of the seventh.
The next batter, Bobby Carrasco, broke up the shutout with a single to make it 5-1.
Three batters later, a walk to Dan Underwood loaded the bases and ended Drago's outing.
Gil Meier came on and got Efrain Jimenez to fly out and keep the River Walkers ahead by four.
In 6.1 innings, Drogo allowed one run on two hits. He struck out eight and walked one.
Greg Sones made his major-league debut in the eighth for St. Louis, allowing only a single but no runs.
Zachary Stella set the Pilots down in order in the ninth.
A two-run homer from Chris Duncan in the bottom of the fourth off Dayton starting pitcher Mike Evanson put the Walkers ahead 2-0.
Two innings later, Jose Ramirez hit a three-run bomb off Carlos Calderon upping the advantage to 5-0.
St. Louis added single runs in the seventh -- Eric Peretz led off with a triple off Billy Lavala and scored on a Jose Segura double -- and eighth -- a pinch-hit homer from Nathaniel Dixon -- to wrap up the scoring.

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Record: 13-11, 3rd, 3.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Xavier Wigfall worked seven scoreless innings and a pair of relievers did the rest as St. Louis shut out Dayton 3-0 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Wigfall (2-2) allowed just a pair of singles during his time on the mound. He struck out three, but did walk five.
The River Walkers' bullpen was flawless, getting 1-2-3 innings from both Nick Ruffalo and Josh Forgy.
Forgy earned his first save.
A solo homer from Jose Segura off Pilots starting pitcher Brett McVey with two outs in the first gave St. Louis a 1-0 lead.
The Walkers other two runs also came with two outs, Nick Shaw driving in a pair with a two-out single off McVey in the third.

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Record: 14-11, 3rd, 3.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Angel Tiburcio turned in a strong start helping hold Dayton to one run over the first six innings, and St. Louis completed a four-game sweep of the Pilots with a 6-2 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
The victory capped an impressive second half of the season's opening month for the River Walkers, who after 1-10 to begin the season went 13-1 in their last 14 games.
Like the rest of the St. Louis starting staff, Tiburcio seems to have found himself a groove after a rough start to his season.
While he didn't get credit for a quality start, the veteran right-hander did allow just one run on three hits in the opening 5.1 innings to earn the win.
Tiburcio (2-1) struck out four and didn't walk a batter.
With two runners aboard and one out, Nick Ruffalo retired the only two Dayton batters he faced to end the inning and keep St. Louis ahead 3-1.
Greg Sones pitched a scoreless seventh inning.
The Pilots did get to Luke Dunkin for a run in the eighth, making it 6-2.
Zachary Stella held the Pilots scoreless in the ninth.
Trailing 1-0, the River Walkers went in front for good with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third.
Eric Peretz struck first with his first homer of the season, a one-out shot off Pilots starter Mike Fowler.
Nick Shaw scored the second run after he singled with two outs.
He scored on a Freudis Nova double.
Nova drove in another run in the fifth, his two-out single off Fowler scoring Shaw again to make it 3-1.
St. Louis busted the game open with a three-run sixth.
All the runs scored with two outs.
Jose Segura collected the first RBI with a single off Jose Infante.
The other two belonged to Nick Shaw, who followed the Segura single with a single of his own.

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Walkers news: May 1 -- Player Development Report

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MBL news: Week 4 -- Awards and standings

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MBL news: May 1 -- Players and Pitchers of the Month for April

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MBL news: May 1 -- Rookies of the Month for April

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MBL news: May 1 -- American League leaders

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MBL news: May 1 -- National League leaders

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Walkers news: May 1 -- Team statistics for May

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Player of the Month: Nick Shaw -- The 25-year-old first baseman hit .387 with six homers, 23 RBIs and 25 runs scored in 24 games. He got on base at a .429 clip and slugged .677.
Starting Pitcher of the Month: Jim Martin -- Acquired in the offseason from Louisville, Martin, 29, impressed in his first month with the Walkers going 3-1 in five starts with a 1.24 ERA and a shutout. He pitched a total of 36.1 innings, during which he struck out 34 and posted a 0.83 WHIP.
Relief Pitcher of the Month: Nick Ruffalo -- The 24-year-old left-hander got into 13 games during which he went 1-0 with 1 save and a 1.54 ERA. He pitched a total of 11.2 innings, during which he struck out 15 and had a 1.03 WHIP.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have activated second baseman Daniel Becerra from the injured list and optioned 2B/3B Tommy DuBose to AAA Memphis.
Becerra, 33, was injured in spring training missing the final few weeks and all of April.
He spent the last five games with Memphis, during which he hit .250 with no homers and three RBIs.
The 2033 season was a good one for Becerra, as he hit .288 with 22 homers and 71 RBIs in 133 games for St. Louis.
Dubose, 25, started 23 games at second base in Becerra's absence and played very well early on before slumping in the final 10 games.
Overall, DuBose got into 24 games for the Walkers, batting .244 with two homers and nine RBIs.

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The game between the St. Louis River Walkers and Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium has been postponed by rain.
It will be made up as part of a doubleheader on May 2.

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Record: 15-11, 2nd, 4 GB Cedar Rapids
Jose Segura and Nick Shaw hit back-to-back homers in the top of the 10th inning -- Segura's was a two-run shot -- off Kansas City reliever Dominic Pipkin and St. Louis downed the Monarchs 4-1 in the opening game of a doubleheader at Kauffman Stadium.
All of the action for the River Walkers in the 10th came with two outs, beginning with an Eric Peretz single.
Segura followed with his two-run homer, a 486 bomb out to right center.
Shaw's also was fairly impressive as well, travelling 431 feet to left.
The game was scoreless until the sixth, when both team's tallied their only runs of regulation.
Freudis Nova led off the top of the inning with a home run off KC starting pitcher Jose Buenrostro.
In the bottom of the frame, T.J. Latham led off with a triple off St. Louis starting pitcher Jim Martin.
He scored on a Rafael Devers fly ball.
Martin turned in another quality start, allowing one run on six hits in seven innings. He struck out three and walked one.
Nick Ruffalo (2-0) handled the eighth and ninth without allowing a run.
He would earn the win.
Luke Dunkin pitched the bottom of the 10th to earn his first save.

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Record: 15-12, 2nd, 4.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Ramon Puente greeted St. Louis reliever Cory Tiller with a two-out RBI single, scoring Nander De Sedas, to snap a 2-2 tie and help give Kansas City a 3-2 win in the second game of a doubleheader at Kauffman Stadium.
De Sadas had opened the bottom of the seventh by drawing a lead-off walk from River Walkers reliever Zachary Stella.
Travis Hawkins bunted and ended up safe at first, as De Sedas moved to second.
De Sadas found his way to third when pinch-hitter T.J. Peterson hit into a fielder's choice. Hawkins being retired at second.
The River Walkers then brought Tiller into the game.
Puente singled to score De Sadas.
Jose Segura had led off the top of the seventh with a homer off Monarchs reliever Michele Vasslotti to tie it at 2-2.
Monarchs starter Sean Hopkins worked five innings, allowing one run on seven hits. He struck out two and walked out.
Despite allowing the tying run, Vassalotti (1-0) got the win for pitched two innings.
Anderson Parra also pitched two innings, the eighth and ninth, and earned his first save.

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Record: 16-12, 2nd, 4.5 GB Cedar Rapids
St. Louis scored single runs in three of the first four innings to build a 3-0 lead, and the River Walkers held on to defeat Kansas City 4-3 at Kauffman Stadium.
The victory gave St. Louis wins in two of the three games in the series.
Nick Shaw had an RBI single in the first inning.
Freudis Nova drove in a run with a single in the second.
Jared Thomas led off the third with a homer off Monarchs starting pitcher Alexis Yanez as the River Walkers went up 3-0.
KC got on the board in the bottom of the fourth, when Gerado Bernal hit a one-out solo homer off St. Louis starting pitcher Shae Drogo.
The Walkers got that run back in the sixth.
Thomas led off with a single off Terry Lesnau and later scored when Drogo singled.
After having allowing just the one run through the first six innings, Drogo went out for the seventh and gave up a single to Jason Gillem and run-scoring double to Travis Hawkins.
After a strike out, Jordan Grullon connected on a single to score Hawkins and make it 4-3.
Drogo exited the game after issuing an intentional walk to Josh Shuler.
In his 6.1 innings, Drogo (3-3) allowed three runs on nine hits. He struck out four and walked two.
Cory Tiller took over and ended the inning by getting Ramon Puente to hit into a double play.
Gil Meier allowed a lead-off single but kept the Monarchs off the board in the eighth.
Josh Forgy allowed a two-out single in the ninth, but that didn't stop him from posting his second save.

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Record: 16-13, 3rd, 5.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Martin Lopez pitched seven shutout innings and Andy Jordan drove in all five of his team's runs with a pair of homer as Toledo downed St. Louis 5-0 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (1974).
Jordan hit a solo home run off River Walkers starting pitcher Xavier Wigfall in the bottom of the sixth inning.
An inning later, he cranked a grand slam off Nick Ruffalo to make it 5-0.
Lopez scattered five hits over seven innings, striking out six and issuing three walks.
Travis Hailey allowed a pair of hits in the eighth.
Dave Schaeffer allowed a single in the ninth.

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Record: 16-14, 3rd, 5.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Chris Gibbs drew a lead-off walk from St. Louis reliever Scott Rissler to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning.
A one-out double from Ellis Parr moved him to third, and Gibbs scored the winning run on a deep fly ball hit to center by Andy Jordan as Toledo downed the River Walkers 2-1 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (1974).
The Mud Hens got another strong start, this time from Edward Kunselman who allowed one run on five hits over the first 5.1 innings.
Mike Davis finished the sixth and worked a scoreless seventh.
That was followed by a scoreless inning apiece from Jorge Aristizabal (1-3), who earned the win, and Nick Strother, who notched his seventh save.
The game's other two runs both came in the second inning.
Nick Shaw hit his eighth home run of the season off of Kunselman to put St. Louis in front 1-0.
The Mud Hens banged out a trio of singles off Walkers starter Angel Tiburcio in the bottom of the inning.
Kunselman earned the RBI with his single scoring Kevin Valentin.
Tiburcio left the game in the fourth inning with an undisclosed injury.

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Record: 17-14, 3rd, 4.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Tied 2-2, St. Louis took command with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings and a pair of in the sixth, as the River Walkers won 6-3 at Toledo at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (1974).
The Mud Hens' Chris Gibbs connected on a two-out RBI single of St. Louis starting pitcher Alex Pazos in the bottom of the fourth to even it at 2-2.
The Walkers, however, didn't waste much time retaking the lead in the top of the fifth, Jose Segura hitting a solo homer, his ninth of the season, off Mud Hens starting pitcher Jose Lopez.
St. Louis struck again in the sixth against the Toledo bullpen.
Daniel Becerra led off with a single of Dave Schaeffer.
A walk to Will Banfield moved Becerra to second.
Izaac Pacheco got down a bunt to move the runners to second and thir.d
Nathaniel Dixon made it 4-2 with a single.
After a strike out of Freudis Nova, Josh Stauffer replaced Schaeffer only to be greeted by an RBI single from Eric Peretz.
St. Louis added another insurance run in the eighth.
Pacheco drawing a lead-off walk from Mike Davis, and later scoring on a wild pitch.
Called up from AAA Memphis, Pazos (1-0) was all right allowing two runs on fie hits in five innings. He struck out five and walked four.
Four relievers, Luke Dunkin (1.0 IP), Nick Ruffalo (1.2), Cory Tiller (0.1) and rookie Greg Sones (1.0), combined to finish the game for the Walkers.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have placed right-handed starting pitcher Angel Tiburcio on the injured list after he exited his most recent start with a shoulder strain.
The 33-year-old Tiburcio had gone 2-1 in six starts this season with a 4.99 ERA.
In his last outing, Tiburcio had exited after working three innings against Toledo.
He had allowed one run on five hits over three innings before being injured.
Pazos had just been called to the majors from AAA Memphis by the Walkers to make an emergency start.
The 25-year-old went five innings against Toledo, allowing two runs on five hits in five innings to earn the win.
This season at Memphis, Pazos had gone 2-1 in five starts while posting a 3.95 ERA.
In 2034, Pazos made 21 starts in the majors going 1-9 with a 5.84 ERA.