2033 St. Louis River Walkers: And the saga continues

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Record: 46-32, 2nd, 1 GB Springfield
Trailing 3-1, Chicago put up single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings before breaking the game open with a four-run bottom of the eighth, as the G-Men defeated St. Louis 8-4 at Wrigley Field (1938).
A two-run single from Nick Shaw off G-Men starting pitcher Rich Nelson in the top of the third staked the River Walkers to their 3-1 lead.
That lead shrunk by a run in the bottom of the fourth, when George Phelps tripled off St. Louis starting pitcher Josh McDonald to drive in a run.
That lead was gone early in the bottom of the fifth after Danny Gutierrez led off with a homer off McDonald.
And when Josh Rosborough laced a two-out single off McDonald to score Gutierrez, who had drawn a two-out walk, in the sixth, Chicago wmoved in front 4-3.
Then came the eighth.
Pinch-hitter Nate Carrey got things rolling with a lead-off homer off Scott Rissler.
Armando Cintron replaced Rissler.
He struck out two of the first batters he face, but also allowed singles to Brian Gonyon and Rosborough.
Bobby Westerman replaced Cintron. and Tony Nolasco pounced on a 2-0 pitch a double to score both runners.
Alfredo Cano then capped the scoring with an RBI single.
Nelson went five innings to open the game for Chicago, allowing three runs on five hits. He struck out six and walked two.
Ben Harris pitched a spotless sixth for Chicago.
Harris (2-1) would earn the win.
Jimmy DaPra shouldered the seventh and eighth innings, without allowing a run.
Jeremy Bouchard gave up a meaningless run in the ninth.

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Record: 47-32, 1st/(Tied/w. Springfield), 3 GA Quad City
Helped by a pair of throwing errors from Chicago shortstop George Phelps, St. Louis scored four runs in the top of the first inning and never looked back in a 14-5 rout of the G-Men at Wrigley Field (1938).
Both errors came after two were out, leading to none of the runs off starting pitcher Jerry Krajancic being earned.
Three of the runs crossed the plate on plays involving the errors.
Jose Segura collected the only RBI with a double.
The River Walkers, however, were not nearly finished as they scored 10 more runs over the final eight innings.
They scored three in the fifth -- Abdul-Nasser bin Amr plated a pair with a single.
With the score 7-4, the Walkers scored two in the seventh on a Segura homer.
Rookie Mark Herman hit a grand slam off Ben Harris in the eighth, making it 13-5.
Bin Amr led off the ninth with a homer off Juan Gomez to cap the scoring.
St. Louis starter Shane Drogo (10-2) wasn't at his best, allowing four runs on six hits over six innings -- but did become of the Midwest Baseball League's first 10-game winner.
Brennan Weldon pitched the seventh, allowing the G-Men's final run.
Rookie left-hander Ron Cox held Chicago scoreless in the eighth and ninth.

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Record: 48-32, 1st (Tied/w. Springfield), 4 GA Quad City
St. Louis jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and Edward Kunselman allowed one run over the first seven innings to improve to 7-0, as the River Walkers downed Chcago 6-1 at Wrigley Field (1938).
Nick Shaw drove in Jackson Miller, who had singled with one out, with a two-out double off G-Men starting pitcher Elijah Louis in the top of the first inning.
An inning later, that lead grew to 4-0.
Kunselman drove in the first run on a squeeze play.
Bob Saavedra handled the next two with a double.
That advantage would grow to 5-0 in the fifth.
Rookie Mark Herman, who had been hit by a Louis pitch to open the inning, scoring on a wild pitch.
Kunselman (7-0) allowed one run -- on a Luis Tejada single in the bottom of the sixth -- on eight hits. He struck out six and didn't issue a walk.
Nick Ruffalo pitched a scoreless eighth for St. Louis.
Scott Rissler did the same in the ninth.

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Record: 48-33, 1st/(Tied/w. Springfield), 3 GA Quad City
Quad City bludgeoned St. Louis starting pitcher Xavier Wigfall for seven runs in a little more than four innings, and the Thunder went on to rout the River Walkers 16-4 at Fenway Park (1976).
Wigfall actually got through the first inning without allowing a run and gave up just one in the second -- Jordan Quinto hit a solo homer -- as the Thunder went up 1-0.
But the runs began piling up for QC in the third when it scored four times.
The Thunder would also score four runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
In the third, Wigfall walked a pair of batters allowing with giving up doubles Fontana Felitti, Quinto and pitcher Roman Diaz.
Felitti double scored two runs, Quinto's and Diaz's both plated one.
Wigfall faced just two batters in the fourth, giving up a lead-off single to Keith Reiter followed by an RBI double to Collin Allen, before being replaced by Brennan Weldon.
Weldon's third pitch to Paul Totten eluded catcher Jackson Miller, allowing Allen to score the inning's second run.
Later in the inning, Raul Collazo and Diaz both had RBI singles as the Thunder went up 9-2.
Weldon was still on the mound when the Thunder started its four-run fifth.
He gave up a one-out solo homer to Allen.
Paul Totten got him for a two-out doublle.
He scored on a Felitti single.
Nick Ruffalo replaced Weldon.
Quinto greeted him with his second homer of the game, a two-run shot to make it 13-2.
St. Louis put infielder Chris Duncan on the mound to start the eighth.
He was bad.
The first three batters walked, before Duncan uncorked a wild pitch to score Quinto.
Duncan would sandwich two more walks around an actually out, before being pulled.
Greg Sones took over and handed out the inning's sixth walk.
In addition to going 2 for 2 at the plate with two RBIs, Diaz (8-6) went four innings for the Thunder allowing two runs on four hits. He struck out seven and walked two.
Four relievers, Ron Peterson (1.0 IP), Lawrence Caulfield (1.1), Kakuro Sugimoto (0.2) and Jeff Young (1.0) combined to finish the mound duties for QC.
Quinto finished the game 3 for 3 with two homers, four RBIs and five runs scored.

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Record: 49-33, 1st, 1 GA Springfield
Down 6-3, St. Louis exploded for eight runs in the top of the seventh inning and went on to defeat Quad City 11-8 at Fenway Park (1976).
The Thunder jumped on River Walkers starter for six runs in the first two innings, seizing 6-1 lead.
Joey Wilson hit a three-run homer and Fontana Felitti a solo shot in the four-run bottom of the first.
Wilson drove in another run with a two-out double in the second.
Gabriel Hagan's RBI single made it 6-1.
Down 6-3 after scoring a pair of runs against QC reliever Joe Wahl in the sixth, Jose Segura tripled in a run and later scored on a Abdul-Nasser bin Amr ground out, the Walkers quickly went to work against a new reliever Noah Cutrona in that decisive top of the seventh.
Marcos Francis led off with a single and moved to second when Cutrona hit Manuel Coke with a pitch.
Nick Shaw then made it 6-4 with a double.
Jeff Young replaced Cutrona but was greeted by an RBI single by Mark Herman.
After a strike out of Segura, St. Louis saw its next four batters reach base.
Zach Wenman, Nathaniel Dixon and Bob Savavedra all had run-scoring singles in the sequence.
With two outs, Craig Fritzler replaced Young only to have Coke cranked out a three-run double on a 2-2 pitch to make it 11-6.
A two-run homer from Gabriel Hagan off reliever Greg Sones in the bottom of the seventh later made it 11-8.
That, however, would be the end of the scoring.
After the rough first two innings, Hrdlicka rebounded to score three scoreless frames.
Overall, he went five innings allowing six runs on 10 hits.
Armando Cintron (3-0) worked a scoreless sixth inning. He would earn the win.
After that it was Sones for 1.2 innings.
Ron Cox finished off the eighth.
Nick Strother handled the ninth for his 14th save.

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Walkers news: July 6 -- Mid-season note from ownership

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MBL news: July 6 -- All-Star game fan voting update

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Record: 49-34, 2nd, 1 GB Springfield
Joey Wilson hit a three-run home run to highlight a four-run first inning for Quad City, and the Thunder went on to defeat St. Louis 7-4 at Fenway Park.
QC put its first four batters on base against River Walkers starting pitcher Josh McDonald.
The third was a single by Paul Totten, which scored Angel Solis to make it 1-0.
Wilson then powered the first pitch he saw 427 feet over the high-wall in left center to stretch the lead by three.
A two-run homer from St. Louis' Jose Segura off Thunder starter Mike Koontz in the top of he fifth helped slice that deficit to 4-3.
QC, however, put its first two runners on board against McDonald in the bottom of the inning.
He was replaced by Amando Cintron, who got Wilson to hit into a double play.
Gabriel Hagan followed that with a single to score Jacob Gonzalez.
An inning later, Cintron was still on the mound when Jacob Gonzalez smacked a two-out, two-run double to extend that advantage to 7-3.
The Walkers' Marcos Francis capped the scoring with a solo homer off Angel Toulaitos in the ninth.
Koontz (9-3) went six innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He struck out three and walked one.
Ryan Walk provided two innings of scoreless relief.
Touliatos started the ninth but managed to get just one out.
Closer Craig Fritzler had to bail him out by earning his 17th save.

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MBL news: July 8 -- Week 14 -- Awards and standings

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Record: 50-34, 1st/(Tied/w. Springfield), 4 GA Quad City
Manuel Coke went 4 for 4 with two doubles, two homers, three run scored and three RBIs to help power St. Louis to an 11-3 win over Springfield at Busch Stadium (2006).
Down 1-0 after Billy Salas had put the Railers in front with a solo homer off River Walkers starter Shane Drogo in the top of the first, Coke turned one around in the bottom half -- also plating Jackson Miller, who had doubled, in front of him -- to put his team ahead 2-1.
An inning later, a suddenly red-hot Jose Segura launched a two-run homer off Springfield starter Ewdy Alex, making it 4-1.
A pair of runs off Drogo in the sixth drew Springfield back to within 4-3.
Coke helped change that by opening a four-run outburst in the bottom of the sixth with a double off reliever Sam Stoutenborough.
Segura collected two more RBIs in that inning with a double.
Abdur-Nasser bin Amr drove in the inning's final run with a single.
The Walkers final three runs came in the seventh -- Coke's second homer, a solo shot off Jesse Edwards -- and the eighth -- bin Amr led off with a double off Keith DeRemer and scored on a Bob Saavedra ground out -- as they cruised to the win.
Drogo (11-2) became the Midwest Baseball League's first 11-game winner of the season by allowing three runs over the first 5.2 innings. He struck out six and didn't walk a batter.
Bobby Westerman finished the sixth and worked a scoreless seventh.
Ron Cox allowed one base runner over the final two innings.

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Record: 49-34, 1st, 1 GA Springfield
Down 2-1, St. Louis scored three times in the bottom of the eighth inning and went on to defeat Springfield 4-2 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Back-to-back home runs from Billy Salas and Joseph Hughes off River Walkers starting pitcher Edward Kunselman had given the Railers their 2-1 lead.
But after he retired the lead-off hitter, the River Walkers went to work against Springfield reliever Mike LaFramboise in the bottom of the eighth by putting five consecutive batters on base beginning with a single by pinch-hitter Alfredo Gomez.
Gomez stole second and scored on a Bob Saavedra single to tie it at 2-2.
Marcos Francis then put the Walkers in front by scoring Saavedra with a double.
After an intentional walk to Manuel Coke, Nick Shaw capped the outburst with a single to right to score Coke.
Kunselman handled the first five innings, allowing two runs on seven hits.
Nick Ruffalo got the first two outs of the sixth before giving way to Brennan Weldon.
Weldon finished the sixth and worked a silent seventh.
Greg Sones and Nick Strother capped the game with an inning apiece.
Sones (2-2) earned the win.
Strother collected his 15th save.

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Record: 60-34, 1st, 2 GA Springfield
Xavier Wigfall tossed a four-hit shutout -- he also drove in three runs with a pair of hits - as St. Louis completed a three-game sweep of Springfield with a 11-0 rout at Busch Stadium (2006).
Wigfall (5-7) scattered four singles over the nine innings. He also struck out 12 and walked just one while recording his second career shutout.
A one-out homer from Jackson Miller off Railers starting pitcher Ruben Ruiz in the bottom of the first inning staked the River Walkers to an early 1-0 lead.
That lead reached 3-0 in the third.
Manuel Coke with an RBI double to score Miller, who had singled in his second at bat.
Coke later scored on an Ruiz wild pitch.
The Walkers doubled their lead in the sixth.
Wigfall drove in the final two runs with a double off reliever Nick Thiel.
St. Louis officially made it lopsided with a six-run seventh.
Rookie Mark Herman drove in a pair with a double off Sam Stoutenborough.
Wigfall plated the game's final run with an infield single.

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Record: 60-35, 1st, 2 GA Springfield
Augustin Perdomo took a shutout into the bottom of the eighth inning, and the Columbus bullpen did the rest as the Golden Bears downed St. Louis 3-0 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Perdomo (8-3) exited after allowing back-to-back one-out singles in the bottom of the eighth to the River Walkers' Nathaniel Dixon and Yan C. Dixon.
Over his 7.1 innings, Perdomo allowed five hits -- four singles and a Jackson Miller double -- while striking out seven and walking one.
Pat Leadingham took over and retired the only two batters he faced in the eighth to keep the score 3-0.
Eric Watkins handled the ninth and earned his 17th save.
The Bears went up 2-0 with a pair of runs off St. Louis rookie starter Dann Burch in the bottom of the second.
Burch was starting for fellow rookie Kevin Hrdlicka, who is out with a shoulder injury.
Felipe Castillo singled off Burch with one out and scored on a Nolan Gorman double.
The next batter, Alex Boychuk, singled to score Gorman.
Columbus got its third run in the sixth.
Neil Assjenberg drew a lead-off walk from Burch.
Boychuk scored him with a two-out single.

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Record: 53-35, 1st, 3 GA Springfield
Tied 3-3, Nick Shaw hit a three-run home run to highlight a four-run bottom of the sixth inning as St. Louis defeated Columbus 7-4 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Jose Segura's home run to lead off the bottom of the third inning off Golden Bears starting pitcher Cesar Gamez had tied it at 3-3.
It remained that way until the bottom of the sixth.
Bob Saavedra got things going with a lead-off double off Columbus reliever Rodolfo Cervantez.
Abdul-Nasser bin Amr was given an intentional walk before Jose Segura struck out for the first out.
Shaw followed that by blasting a 2-1 deliver 367 feet over the wall in right field to make it 6-3.
The Walkers added another run, this one off Nate Finck, who replaced Cervantez after the homer.
Marcos Francis and Nathaniel Dixon greeted Finck with singles.
Yan C. Dixon scored Francis on a ground out.
Walkers starter Josh McDonald lasted just five innings, allowing three runs on eight hits. He struck out seven and walked two.
Bennie Weldon (4-0) earned the win after a scoreless sixth.
After that, it was an inning apeice from Nick Ruffalo, Scott Rissler and Nick Strother.
Ruffalo allowed a solo homer to Nolan Gorman in the seventh/
Strother upped his save total to 16.

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Record: 53-36, 1st, 2 GA Springfield
Christian Moore connected on a two-out, two-run double in the top of the eighth inning off St. Louis reliver Bobby Westerman to snap a 5-5 tie, and help lead Columbus to a 7-6 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
A one-out walk to Bruce Coady followed by an intentional walk to Juan Vela had put two runners on in front of Moore, who lined a 2-2 pitch into the gap in right-center to score both runs.
At one point, the Golden Bears had trailed 5-2 before rallying.
They scored twice in the sixth when Matt Crawl led off with a triple off River Walkers starter Shane Drogo.
He scored on a Mike Stone sacrifice fly.
St. Louis center fielder Jose Segura was injured on the throw to the plate and had to leave the game.
Nolan Gorman followed the Stone's sac fly with a double.
He would cored on a two-out single by Edgar Salas.
Columbus tied it in the seventh.
Moore doubled off Westerman with one out.
He scored when Yan C. Dixon misplayed a fly ball to center hit by Neil Assenjberg.
Bears starting pitcher Jorge Ariza lasted just 3.2 innings, allowing five runs on six hits.
Jared Kelley finished the fourth inning and worked a scoreless fifth.
Former Walker Ricky Cisneros (2-3) earned the win after pitching a pair of scoreless frames.
Pat Leadingham handled the eighth, keeping the lead at 7-5.
Columbus closer Eric Watkins gave up a two-out triple to Manuel Coke in the ninth.
But he got Marcos Francis to ground out to end it, and earn his 18th save.

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MBL news: July 13 -- Final All-Star game fan voting results

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MBL news: July 13 -- All-Star game rosters

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The St. Louis River Walkers had three players selected to the National League team for the July 15 All-Star game.
Right fielder -- Manuel Coke was selected as a starter. It will be his second All-Star appearance. The 23-year-old also made the team as a rookie in 2035.
Starting pitcher -- Edward Kunselman, 32, is an All-Star for the first time in his career.
Second baseman -- Marcos Francis was named to the All-Star team for the third time. It is his first time as a NL All-Star. His two previous appearances were in 2031 and 2033 when the 31-year-old was playing for Grand Rapids.

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MBL news: July 13 -- Prospects Game rosters

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A trio of St. Louis River Walkers minor league players have been named to the National League roster for the Prospects Game.
Outfielder -- Jose Juarez - A 2033 minor-league signing out of the Dominican Republic, the 20-year-old is playing for the Walkers team in the Dominican Rookie League 1. He is ranked as the 91st best prospect in the minors.
Relief pitcher -- Alex Ramos -- A third-round pick out of the Georgia Military College in the 2035 draft, the 19-year-old right-hander is pitching for Peoria in the Class A Midwest League.
Catcher -- Alex Telles -- A minor-league signing out of Venezuela in 2034,Telles, 19, also is playing for the Dominican Rookie League 1 team.