2033 St. Louis River Walkers: And the saga continues

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Record:54-36, 1st, 2 GA Springfield
Edward Kunselman allowed one run over the opening six innings to help him improve to 8-0, as St. Louis went into a All-Star break with a 4-1 win over Columbus at Busch Stadium (2006).
The victory was the third in a row for the River Walkers to close out the four-game series.
Kunselman (8-0) allowed one run on three hits in his time on the mound. He struck out five and walked two.
The lone run for the Golden Bears came on a Felipe Castillo home run in the top of the fourth.
It tied the score 1-1.
The Walkers regained the lead for good in the bottom of the inning on a Yan C. Dixon fly ball off Columbus starter Chris D'Allessario.
Jackson Miller scored on Dixon's fly ball after leading off the inning with a single. A single by Abdul-Nasser bin Amr had moved Miller to third.
St. Louis' other two runs came via RBI singles in the bottom of the sixth from Yan C. Dixon and Bob Saavedra.
Reliever Ramon Bustamante allowed both hits.
After Kunselman made his exit, Nick Ruffalo, Alex Salinas, making his MBL debut, and Nick Strother closed the game with scoreless innings.
Strother earned his 17th save.

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MBL news: July 13 -- Prospect Game goes to American League 6-5

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MBL news: July 14 -- Awards and standings

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MBL news: July 14 -- American League leaders at the All-Star break

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MBL news: July 14 -- National League leaders at the All-Star break

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Walkers news: July 14 -- Team statistics at the All-Star break

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MBL news: July 14 -- Toledo's Parr wins Home-Run Derby

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MBL news: July 15 -- QC's Totten is MVP of National League All-Star win

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The St. Louis River Walkers have traded AAA outfielder Hector Tavarez and utility man Alfredo Gomez in exchange for veteran outfielder Eddie Estrella and minor-league third baseman Luis Salinas of Ann Arbor.
Once ranked as the No. 7 prospect in all of the Midwest Baseball League, Tavarez, 27, had struggled in the four attempts he had to show what he could do at the major-league level.
In 181 total games with St. Louis, Tavarez batted just .211 with 32 homers and 89 RBIs.
He spent 31 with the Walkers this season, getting into 31 games during which he hit just .116 with three homers and 10 RBIs.
Taverez's struggles were not contained to the majors this season, in 57 games with AAA Memphis he had hit just 212 with nine homers and 28 RBIs.
Originally a minor-league signing in 2021 by Milwaukee, Estrella, 33, made the majors with the Keg Lifters in 2026.
He spent the 2025 through 2028 seasons with Twin Cities, before moving on to Ann Arbor in 2032.
This season, Estrella, has played in 75 games for the Wolfpack, with 41 starts, and batted .288 with nine homers and 24 RBIs.
For his career, the right-handed hitter owns a .291 average with 147 homers and 425 RBIs.
The Walkers view Estrella as a right-handed power bat off the bench, a possible platoon in left field with rookie Mark Herman.
Herman is hit just .091 with two homers and six RBIs in 43 at bats against left-handed pitching in 2036.
The Walkers moved Gomez, 26, to open up a roster spot for Estrella.
The 26-year-old utility player had struggled in his first season with St. Louis batting just .167 with three RBIs in 96 total at bats.
In Salinas, St. Louis acquired a 25-year-old third baseman who was signed a first-round draft pick by Kansas City in the 2032 draft.
Salinas had spent the 2036 season at AA Chattanooga, where he had hit .273 with 11 homers and 62 RBIs in 88 games.

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Walkers news: July 21 -- Players involved in St. Louis-Ann Arbor trade

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MBL news: July 21 -- Week 15 - Awards and standings

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Record: 54-37, 1st, 1 GA Springfield
Kansas City jumped out to a 6-0 lead over the first 3.5 innings, and then held on to defeat St. Louis 7-6 at Busch Stadium (2006).
The Monarchs quickly jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning against River Walkers starting pitcher.
Nick Jernigan led off the game with a single, and on a steal of second ended up at third following a throwing error by catcher Jackson Miller.
Jernigan scored on a Josh Shuler ground out.
Jim Peebles led off the fourth with a homer off McDonald, paving the way for a three-run inning.
After a ground out, T.J. Latham and pitcher Mike Tucker sandwiched singles around a double by Aljeando Crespo.
Tucker's single scored Latham.
Crespo found the plate on a fly ball by Jernigan.
Jernigan collected two more RBIs in the sixth, hitting a two-run homer off reliever Brennan Weldon to make it 6-0.
A two-run homer from Manuel Coke off Tucker ignited the St. Louis' comeback in the bottom of the sixth.
A lead-off homer from Latham off Scott Rissler in the top of the eighth made it 7-2.
It turned out the Monarchs would need that run.
A Jose Segura two-run homer off Josa Lazaro in the eighth drew the Walkers with 7-4.
Jackson Miller belted a two-run blast off Jose Patricio with no outs in the ninth, making it 7-6.
Patricio, however, retired the next three for his 19th save of the season.
Tucker (6-7) lasted five innings, allowing two runs on five hits.
Four KC relievers, Yeison Rafael Sanders, Crespo, Lazro and Patricio, all pitched an inning to close out the game.

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Record: 55-37, 1st, 2 GA Springfield
Shane Drogo allowed two runs over the first six innings to become the season's first 12-game winner in the Midwest Baseball League, as St. Louis downed Kansas City 5-2 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Drogo (12-2) allowed the two runs -- on single tallies in the top of the third and fifth innings - -on four hits. He struck out five and didn't walk a batter.
Tied 1-1, the River Walkers took command with four runs in the bottom of the third off Monarchs starting pitcher Travis Rinker.
After the inning's first batter struck out, St. Louis connected for three straight singles -- from Manuel Coke, Nick Shaw and Marcos Francis -- before rookie Mark Herman hit a three-run homer.
Francis' single had driven in Coke to make it 5-1.
Scott Rissler pitched a scoreless seventh for St. Louis, and also recorded the first out of the eighth.
Lefty Greg Sones retired the only two batters he faced to finish the eighth.
Nick Strother held KC scoreless in the ninth for his 18th save.

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Record: 56-37, 1st, 3 GA Springfield and Quad City
Bob Saavedra singled off Kansas City reliever Juan Crespo with two outs i the bottom of the 13th inning to score Jose Segura, and give St. Louis a 6-5 win at Busch Stadium.
The win was the second in a row for the River Walkers, who claimed the three-game series which opened the post-All-Star break portion of the schedule for both teams.
Segura had opened the inning by drawing a lead-off walk from Jose Lazaro.
Crespo then took over and saw Segura move to second on a bunt by Abdul-Nasser bin Amr.
Pinch-hitter Kevin Hrdlicka, a pitcher, struck out for the second out.
But Saavedra drove a 3-2 pitch into left field to win the game.
A two-run homer from Manuel Coke off Monarchs reliever David Ruffilo in the bottom of the eighth had set the stage for extra innings.
Earlier, Kansas City had gone up 5-3 with following a three-run top of the seventh.
Josh Shuler plated two of the runs with a double off Greg Sones.
T.J. Peterson later scored Shuler with a two-out single.
The Walkers also had a three-run inning, it came in the bottom of the sixth and put them up 3-2.
St. Louis starting pitcher Edward Kunselman retained his perfect 7-0 record by not entering in the decision.
He pitched six innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He struck out six and walked two.
Brennan Weldon failed to retire any of the three batters he faced in the seventh for the Walkers.
Sones recorded all three outs in that inning.
Bobby Westerman followed with two scoreless innings.
Nick Ruffalo got the first two outs of the 10th.
Nick Strother finished the 10th and worked a scoreless 11th.
Rookie Ron Cox (1-2) earned his first MBL win by keeping KC off the board in the 12th and 13th.
Note: The Walkers' Nick Shaw and the Monarchs' Rufillo after Shaw charged the mound following a hit by pitch.
Shaw's at bat came after Coke's game-tying homer in the eighth.
Both players were ejected.

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St. Louis River Walkers first baseman Nick Shaw and Kansas City Monarchs relief pitcher David Rufilo have both been suspended for three games for instigating a bench-clearing brawl
Shaw charged the mound after being hit by a Rufillo pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning.
St. Louis' Manuel Coke had hit a two-run homer in the previous at bat to tie the game at 5-5.
The Walkers would go on to win 6-5 in 13th innings.

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Cedar Rapids' right-hander Josh Downer pitched the fifth no-hitter of the 2036 season, in the Grapplers 12-0 win over Twin Cities at Connie Mack Stadium (1960).
Downer struck out three and walked two while posting the first no-hitter of his career.

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Record: 57-37, 1st, 2 GA Springfield and Quad City
St. Louis jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first 2.5 innings, and the River Walkers went on to defeat Kansas City 5-2 at Kauffman Stadium.
Jackson Miller doubled off Monarchs starting pitcher Tyler Martin with one out in the top of the first inning and scored on Marcos Francis two-out single to put St. Louis up 1-0.
That advantage grew to 4-0 in the third.
The Walkers put their first three hitters on base, the third a two-run double by Manuel Coke.
Coke, who had advanced to third on a throw to the plate, scored on a Francis fly ball to left.
The Monarchs did pull within 4-2 with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth off Walkers starter Xavier Wigfall -- Alejandro Crespo collected both RBIs with a single -- but that would be the extend of their scoring.
St. Louis got an insurance run in the top of the ninth.
Miller scored for the second time after leading off the inning with a single off Yeison Rafael Santos.
He scored on a Francis single, as his RBI total for the game reached three.
Wigfall (6-7) lasted just long enough, five innings, to earn the win. He allowed two runs on four hits. He struck out four and walked two.
Nick Ruffalo notched the first two outs of the sixth, before giving way to Brennan Weldon, who finished that inning and also handled a silent seventh
Greg Sones and Bobby Westerman closed the win with scoreless innings.
Westerman earned his fourth save.

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Record: 57-38, 1st, 2 GA Springfield
Kansas City bludgeoned St. Louis rookie starter Kevin Hrdlicka for seven runs in just over three innings, and the Monarchs went on to rout the River Walkers 12-3 at Kauffman Stadium.
The Monarchs got their first run in the bottom of the first.
Alejandro Crespo scored the run after he singled off Hrdlicka with one out.
A T.J. Peterson double moved Crespo to third.
Crespo scored on a Jim Peebles ground out.
Kansas City pushed its lead to 6-0 in the third via a pair of home runs, a two-run shot from T.J. Latham and a three-run job by Peterson.
The Monarchs tallied two more times in the fourth.
Hrdlicka was chased after giving up a one-out double to Crespo followed by a walk to Peterson.
Ron Cox took over, and was greeted by a RBI double by Peebles.
Bernal made it 8-0 when Peterson scored on his ground out.
KC rounded out its scoring with single runs in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings.
Gerardo Bernal scored his team's final run with a solo homer off Armando Cintron in the eighth.
Monarchs starting pitcher Alexis Yanez handled the first six innings, allowing one run on three hits. He struck out four and walked two.
Jose Lazaro pitched a pair of innings, allowing a solo homer to Chris Duncan in the seventh.
Marcos Francis hit a solo homer off Eric Hammond in the ninth.

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Record: 57-39, 1st, 2 GA Springfield
Down 2-1, Kansas City tallied a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to defeat St. Louis 3-2 at Kauffman Stadium.
The win gave the Monarchs their second straight win over the River Walkers to complete the three-game series.
St. Louis starting pitcher Josh McDonald was still on the mound to start the bottom of the sixth.
Alejando Crespo opened the inning with a double.
Crespo moved to third when first baseman Zach Wenman bobbled a throw from McDonald.
Greg Sones took over the McDonald.
He got Jim Peebles to ground out, putting runners at second and third.
Gerardo Bernal then was given an intentional walk.
Sones followed with another walk, this one unintentional, to Amari Simpson to load the bases.
Alex Nunez flew out for the second out.
Scott Rissler then took the mound to face right-handed hitter T.J. Latham.
Latham lined a 1-1 pitch between first and second, scoring Crespo and Peterson to put KC in front.
St. Louis had led 2-0.
Kansas City made it 2-1 in the bottom of the third.
Pitcher Mike Tucker singled with two outs off McDonald.
Josh Shuler chased him home with a double.
Tucker worked five innings, allowing two runs on seven hits.
After that, it was an inning apiece from Juan Crespo, Yeison Rafael Santos, Alex Carruthers and Jose Patricio.
Crespo (4-0) earned the win.
Patricio collected his 20th save.

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MBL news: July 28 -- Week 16 - Awards and standings