2033 St. Louis River Walkers: And the saga continues

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Walkers news: June 1 -- Player Development Report

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

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MBL news: June 1 -- Rookies of the Month for May and standings

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MBL news: June 1 -- American League leaders

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MBL news: June 1 -- National League leaders

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Walkers news: June 1 -- Team statistics for May

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Walkers news: June 1 -- Team statistics for 2033

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Player of the Month: Nick Shaw -- The 24-year-old first baseman continued his impressive start batting .355 with six homers, 19 RBIs and 15 runs cored in 26 games. He got on base at a .395 clip and slugged .598.
Starting pitcher of the Month: Jesse McNaboe -- The 24-year-old right-hander went 4-2 in six starts with a 3.00 ERA. He pitched a total of 42.0 innings, during which he struck out 31 and had a 1.07 WHIP.
Relief Pitcher of the Month: Ernesto Barbosa -- The 31-year-old closer was 3-0 with four saves in seven appearances. He pitched 9.1 innings, during which he struck out 11 and posted a 0.86 WHIP.

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Record: 24-30, 6th, 13.5 GB Des Moines
Jerry Tate took a shutout into the eighth inning, and St. Louis avoided a three-game sweep against Milwaukee with a 3-1 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
Making his first start since a stint on the disabled list with an elbow injury, Tate (1-3) allowed no runs on six hits before exiting after allowing a one-out single to Michael Brook in the top of the eighth.
Brooks would score the Crushers' first run of the game when Hsi-pin Mei greeted reliever Yeisno Santos with a double to make it 3-1.
That would leave Tate with a line of 7.1 innings, one runs on seven hits. He struck out two and walk three.
Santos would not retire a batter, allowing two more singles, but the Crushers had two runners thrown out on the bases to keep it 3-1.
River Walkers closer Ernesto Barbosa pitched around a lead-off single in the ninth for his 10th save.
St. Louis went up 1-0 with a run in the first off Milwaukee starter Jesse Mucci.
Alex Greene drew a lead-off walk and scored on a one-out double from Jae-hong Chang.
Nick Shaw and Jared Thomas both hit solo homers in the fourth, both off Mucci, to put the Walkers ahead 3-0.

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Record: 24-31, 6th, 13.5 GB Des Moines
Columbus tallied two runs in the first inning, and two more again in the third to pave the way for a 6-1 win over St. Louis at Forbes Field (1959).
Aaron Nixon led off the bottom of the first inning with a single off River Walkers starter Xavier Wigfall, and the next batter, Kevin Kendall, drew a walk.
That set the stage for both to score when Chris Hery hit a one-out double.
Two innings later, Nixon led off the inning with a single, and he scored when Kendall hit his third home run of the season.
The Bears lead grew to 5-0 in the fifth.
Kendall and Javy Gutierrez both drew two-out walks from Wigall.
Kendall scored on a Hery single, which featured an error in right field by Alex Greene.
Columbus starting pitcher Agustin Perdomo worked 8.1 innings, allowing one run, a homer from Jose Ramirez in the seventh inning, on four hits. He struck out seven and didn't walk a batter.
Mike LaFramboise recorded the final two outs of the game.

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Record: 24-32, 6th, 13.5 GB Des Moines
Sergio Flores led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a walk-off home run off St. Louis relief pitcher Cory Tiller to give Columbus a 3-2 win at Forbes Field (1958).
The homer came on a 2-1 pitch, and traveled 351 feet over the wall in right field.
An inning before, trailing 2-1, the Golden Bears had tied it with another homer, this one also a lead-off shot coming from Javy Gutierrez off River Walkers closer Ernesto Barbosa.
It marked Barbosa fifth blown save of the season.
A solo homer from St. Louis' Jose Ramirez off Golden Bears reliever Pablo Ochoa had put the Walkers ahead in the top of the eighth.
Columbus starting pitcher Chris D'Allsesandro worked 6.1 innings, allowing one run on six hits. He struck out nine and walked two.
Ochoa finished the seventh and got the first two outs of the eighth.
Mario Serna pitched a silent ninth before Mike LaFramboise handled the 10th.
LaFramboise (3-3) came out of it with the win.
For the third time this season, Walkers starting pitcher Angel Tiburcio had to leave the game with an injury.
A diagnosis was not avalable at game's end.

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Record: 24-33, 6th, 13.5 GB Des Moines
Kevin Kendall opened the bottom of the ninth inning by blasting a 1-1 pitch from St. Louis reliever Josh Forgy some 456 feet over the wall in left-center field to give Columbus a 7-6 win at Forbes Field (1959).
The River Walkers led 1-0 through most of the early innings, before the Golden Bears tied it in the bottom of the sixth on a two-out RBI single from Raymond Torres off starting pitcher Jesse McNaboe.
That set the stage for a wild eighth inning, where both teams scored five times.
In the top half of the inning, St. Louis was aided by four walks, two with the bases-loaded from Mario Serna.
Jose Segura also drove in two runs with a double off Serna.
In the bottom half, the Bears beat up on reliever Yeison Santos, who gave up four hits in a span of five batters.
Nolan Gorman drove in the inning's first run with a double.
He scored on a Raymond Torres triple.
Pat McNeil then ended Santos' outing with a single to make it 6-4.
Scott Rissler replaced Santos, only to have Jerrion Ealy reach on an error by first baseman Nick Shaw.
Two batters later, after a walk to Javy Gutierrez, Mike Stone singled off Rissler plating a pair to tie it.
Columbus starting pitcher Chris Lutz worked 6.1 strong innings, allowing one run on two hits. He struck out four and walked one.
Fernando Fernando completed the seventh inning and got the first out in the eighth,
Serna took the bulk of the damage in the eighth, before giving way to Bob Romero who retired the only batter he faced to end the inning.
John Goulet (2-1) set himself up for the win by holding the Walkers scoreless in the top of the ninth.

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A three-time Cy Young winner for the St. Louis River Walkers, the team figured re-signing free-agent pitcher Angel Tiburcio in the off-season wasn't that big of gamble considering his history with the team.
That was despite him missing the last two-plus months of the 2032 season with bone chips in his forearm.
Boy, was that a mistake which will haunt the team for some time, as he is signed for three seasons total, with an option for a fourth.
The Walkers announced that Tiburcio will miss the remainder of the season -- and up to six months altogether -- with inflammation in his right pitching arm.
Tiburcio, 33, wasn't any good when he was on the mound in 2033, going 2-5 in 11 starts with a 6.84 ERA.

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MBL news: June 5 -- All-Star game fan voting update

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Record: 24-34, 6th, 13.5 GB Des Moines
A two-run homer from Jose Ramirez put St. Louis' ahead 2-0 in the top of the first inning, by the time the River Walkers scored again they trailed 8-2 in a game they eventually lost 8-4 to Columbus at Forbes Field (1959).
The victory completed a four-game sweep for the Golden Bears.
Columbus didn't waste much time taking the the lead.
It got a solo homer from Dan Reeves and a two-run shot from Jonathon Boyle in the bottom of the first, both of St. Louis starting pitcher Zack Hunsicker, to go head 3-2.
Columbus later broke the game open with a four-run fifth.
Reeves collected another RBI when he drove in the inning's first run, with a double off Hunsicker.
Boyle later upped his RBI ante to three when he plated a run with a single.
A run-scoring single from Sean Larson capped the outburst.
The Columbus' advantage reached 8-2 in the bottom of the sixth.
Oscar Martinez replaced Hunsicker on the mound to open the inning, and Sergio Flores greeted him with his first home run of the season.
Martinez retired just one of the four batters he faced -- Aaron Nixon followed the Flores homer with a single, and scored on a Reeves double -- as the Bears pretty much put the game away.
St. Louis did score twice later --including Ramirez's second homer of the game -- but never threatened to get back in the game.
Columbus starting pitcher Casey Mize (5-5) worked five innings, allowing two runs on four hits.
Five relievers -- John Goulet (0.2 IP), Fernando Fernando (1.0), Shigekuni Ishii (0.1), Bob Romero (1.0) and Pablo Ochoa (1.0) -- combined to close out the win.

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MBL news: Week 9 -- Awards and standings

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Record: 24-35, 7th, 14.5 GB Des Moines
Mitch Bernier hit a two-run homer off St. Louis reliever Luke Dunkin in the top of the 10th inning to help lift Madison to a 3-1 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
The loss extended St. Louis' losing streak to six games.
Trevor Candelaria led off the top of the 10th with a single off Dunkin.
Bernier followed with his second homer of the season, a 420-foot shot on a 1-0 pitch.
The Muskies trailed 1-0 going into the top of the seventh.
They tied it, all of the action coming with two outs.
Jose Reyes drew a two-out walk from River Walkers starting pitcher Jerry Tate.
Aramis Ademan moved Reyes to third with a single.
Former Walkers prospect John McCaskey tied it with a single.
Madison starting pitcher Jake O'Brien lasted 4.2 innings, allowing one run on six.
Freddy Cisneros followed by getting the final out of the fifth, and working a scoreless sixth.
After that, it was an inning apiece from John Holmes, Luis Bahena, Brendan Pearson and Bobby Westerman.
Pearson (1-0) earned his first win of the season.
Westerman collected his 15th save.

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Record: 25-35, 6th, 13.5 GB Des Moines
St. Louis jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning -- and helped by 6.1 strong innings from Xavier Wigfall, who allowed just one run -- the River Walkers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 4-3 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
Jose Segura came up with the big hit of that first inning, with a two-run, two-out triple off Muskies starting pitcher Efrain Garcia.
Segura scored when Kyren Paris followed with a single.
Wigfall (4-6) allowed one run on four hits in his 6.1 innings.
He exited after allowing a one-out single to Yan C. Dixon in the seventh
Oscar Martinez came on to get out of that inning without a run scoring.
An RBI double from Jovan Gill off Madison reliever Chris Conway put St. Louis ahead 4-1 going into the ninth.
The Walkers went to their closer, Ernesto Barbosa, to end it.
He brought nothing to the mound, allowing three straight singles to load the bases with none out.
He struck out Dixon for the first out, but followed that with a walk to Cesar Salazar to make it 4-2.
Scott Rissler replaced Barbosa and got Mitch Bernier to hit into a fielder's choice, scoring the inning's second run.
Rissler, however, got Jose Reyes to ground out, and give him his first save of the season.

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Record: 26-35, 6th, 12.5 GB Des Moines
Down 2-1, St. Louis scored single runs in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings to defeat Madison 4-2 at Busch Stadium (2006).
The River Walkers won two of the three games in their series with the Muskies.
St. Louis tied it in the fourth when Jae-hong Chang doubled with one out off Madison starting pitcher Josh Hertel and scored on a two-out single from Kyren Paris.
An inning later, Alex Greene led off the inning with a single off Hertel.
A bunt from Glenallen Hill Jr. moved Greene to second.
Jose Segura collected an RBI with a single.
Green scored again in the seventh with a lead-off homer off reliever Zach Prajzner.
St. Louis starting pitcher Alex Pazos lasted just 4.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits. His pitch count was elevated by six walks.
Luke Dunkin (1-3) earned the win by completing the fifth inning and working a scoreless sixth.
After that, it was Josh Forgy for an inning.
Cory Tiller (0.2 IP) and Yeison Santos (0.1) combined on a scoreless eighth.
Closer Ernesto Barbosa issued back-to-back walks in the ninth, but still collected his 11th save.

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Record: 26-36, 7th, 12.5 GB Des Moines
Trailing 6-5, Springfield's Adan Valette hit hits first home run of the season with two outs in the bottom of the seventh off St. Louis relief pitcher Nick Ruffalo, to help lift the Railers to a 7-6 win at Oracle Park (2020).
Ruben Villanueva Jr. drew a walk from Ruffalo to open the bottom of the seventh.
After a ground out by Alex Otero, Valette got ahold of a 2-2 pitch and cranked it 369 feet over the fence in right field.
The River Walkers had gone up 6-5 in the top of the seventh on a two-run homer from Jose Ramirez off Springfield relief pitcher Nick Thiel.
The Railers jumped out to a 3-0 lead against Walkers starting pitcher Jesse McNaboe, with the game going back-and-forth after that.
Springfield starter John Haynes lasted five innings, allowing two runs on four hits.
After that it was a string of one-inning appearances from Juan Valdez, Thiel, Jon Santiago and Mario Reyes.
Thiel (3-1) earned the win.
Reyes collected his 14th save.