2033 St. Louis River Walkers: And the saga continues

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Record: 62-45, 1st, 0.5 GA Cedar Rapids
Down 2-1, St. Louis scored three times in the bottom of the fourth inning and went on to defeat Dayton 4-3 at Busch Stadium (2006).
The Pilots jumped out to a 2-0 lead with single runs off River Walkers starting pitcher Shane Drogo in the first and second innings.
A two-out double from Marcos Francis, off Pilots starter Rob Reed, scored Bob Saavedra, who had singled with two outs, to put St. Louis on the board.
An inning later, the Walkers banged out four straight extra-bases hits off Reed -- Nick Shaw and Mark Herman led off the inning with back-to-back doubles. They both scored on a Jose Segura triple. Zach Wenman scored Segura with the inning's third double -- to take the lead.
Dayton cut the deficit to a run in the fifth -- Josh Knutson doubled with one out off Walkers starter Shane Drogo and scored on a Doug Brinton single -- but that would be the end of the scoring.
Drogo (13-4) worked seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He struck out six and walked one.
Nick Ruffalo (0.2 IP) and Brennan Weldon (0.1) combined to pitch the eighth for St. Louis.
Nick Strother retired the Pilots in order in the ninth for his 22nd save.

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Record: 62-46, 1st (Tied/w. Springfield), 0.5 GA Cedar Rapids
Tied 1-1, Dayton tallied four runs off St. Louis starting pitcher Edward Kunselman in the top of the third inning, and the Pilots went on for a 6-4 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
All of the Pilots third-inning runs came with two outs.
With two outs, and runners on second and third after Hsin-pieng Mei doubled and Nick Bitsko singled, Bobby Carrasco drew a walk from Kunselman to load the bases.
What followed were three straight singles -- from Matt Freudenberg (scoring two) and Josh Knutsen and Carlos Longoria (both scoring one -- to give Dayton a 5-1 lead.
Kunselman left the game after the inning with an undisclosed injury.
Doug Brinton homered off reliever Armando Cintron in the seventh, making it 6-1.
The rest of the Walkers scoring came in the bottom of that inning -- Marcos Francis belting a three-run homer off reliever Sean Reznik.
Dayton starter Jeff Hall (6-8) worked 5.1 innings, allowing one run on five hits.
Reznik finished the sixth and got the first two outs of the seventh, when he allowed the Francis homer.
Damon Casetta-Stubbs (1.1) got the game to the ninth inning.
Ron Hall handled the ninth for his second save

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Record: 63-46, 1st (Tied/w. Springfield), 1.5 GA Cedar Rapids
Xavier Wigfall pitched six shut-out innings, and the St. Louis bullpen did the rest as the River Walkers defeated Dayton 5-0 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Wigfall (8-8) allowed just three hits in his time on the mound. He struck out nine and walked two.
Bobby Westerman worked a scoreless seventh for the Walkers.
Ron Cox got the first two outs of the eighth.
Brennan Weldon did the rest, recording four hits over the eighth and ninth for his fourth save.
Jackson Miller powered the St. Louis offense with a pair of homers and three runs scored.
He scored the game's first run in the bottom of the first, when he singled with one out and scored after Nick Shaw and Mark Herman both delivered two out singles.
Miller made it 2-0 when he hit his first homer off Marty Benitez to lead of the third.
Herman and Jose Segura hit back-to-back solo homers off Jose Infante in the seventh.
Miller capped the scoring when he went deep off Sean Reznik in the eighth.

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Record: 63-47, 1st (Tied/w. Springfield), 0.5 GA Cedar Rapids
Down 2-0, Dayton scored twice in both the seventh and eighth innings and went on for a 4-3 win over St. Louis at Busch Stadium (2006).
The victory allowed the Pilots to split the four-game series with the River Walkers.
The Walkers' Nick Shaw hit a two-run home run off Pilots starter Carlos Calderon in the bottom of the fourth to give his team a 2-0 lead.
Bobby Carrasco knotted it when he matched Shaw's two-run homer with one of his own off St. Louis starter Kevin Hrdlicka in the seventh.
An inning later, Dayton grabbed the lead.
Hrdlicka walked Carlos Longoria to lead off the inning.
He then exited in favor of Nick Ruffalo and was not good.
Pinch-hitter Justin Johnson greeted Ruffalo with a single.
He then hit Nick Bitsko with a pitch to load the bases.
Doug Brinton followed with a single, scoring two, to make it 4-2.
The Walkers did get a run in in the ninth.
A Shaw single off Ron Hall scoring Marcos Francis to make it 4-3, and leaving runners at first and second.
With Jose Segura at the plate, Dayton catcher Dan Huff allowed a ball to get past him to put runners at second and third.
Hall, however, got Zach Wenman to fly out and pinch-hitter Manuel Coke to ground out to end it.
The win went to Calderon (2-4), who allowed two runs on six hits in seven innings.
Billy Lavala worked a scoreless eighth.
Hall had his trouble in the ninth, but still notched his third save.

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MBL news: Week 18 -- Awards and standings

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Record: 64-47, 1st, 1 GA Springfield
Trailing 4-0, St. Louis scored once in the sixth inning and four times in the seventh to rally for a 6-4 win over Louisville at Busch Stadium (2006).
The Sluggers built their lead by scoring single runs off River Walkers starting pitcher Josh McDonald in the first, third fifth and sixth innings.
St. Louis started its comeback in the bottom of the sixth.
Bob Saavedra singled with one out off of Louisville starter Esteban Serna.
A Jackson Miller double moved Saavedra to second.
Manuel Coke made it 4-1 with a ground out.
An inning later, a trio of walks -- one from Serna and two from reliever Travis Pooler -- loaded the bases before a batter was out.
Abdul-Nasser bin Amr then made it 4-3 with a double off Pooler.
Pinch-hitter Eddie Estrella singled to load the bases again.
Edwin Cora replaced Pooler and was greeted by a Miller second which plated a pair to put St. Louis in front 5-4.
Nick Shaw made it 6-4 when he led off the bottom of the eighth with a homer off Cora.
McDonald had another rough outing for the Walkers but avoided dropping his sixth straight decision in his last eight starts.
The right-hander allowed four runs in seven hits in six innings. He struck out five and walked three.
Relievers Scott Rissler, Bobby Westerman and Nick Strother all pitched scoreless innings.
Strother earned his 23rd save.

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Record: 65-47, 1st, 1 GA Springfield
Shane Drogo pitched a two-hit shutout to earn his 14th win of the season, as St. Louis downed Louisville 4-0 at Busch Stadium (2006).
A lead-off triple to David Morales in the top of the second inning and a two-out single by Bobby Chapman in the fourth were the only hits allowed by Drogo (14-4), whose 14 wins leads the rest of the MBL by two.
The left-hander struck out nine and didn't issue a walk.
Led by 5.1 shutout innings by starter Jose Lopez, the Sluggers held the River Walkers scoreless until the bottom of the seventh.
That's when they busted loose for all four of their runs.
Rookie Mark Herman did the bulk of the damage with his ninth homer of the season, a three-run shot of Danny Wright which opened the scoring.
Later in the inning, Nathaniel Dixon tripled and scored on a two-out single by Bob Saavedra.

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The game between the Louisville Sluggers and St. Louis River Walkers scheduled for August 14 at Busch Stadium (2006) has been postponed because of bad weather.
It will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Sept. 22 in St. Louis.

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Record: 65-48, 1st, 1.5 GA Springfield
Kansas City put together a trio of three-run innings, and went on to rout St. Louis 11-4 at Busch Stadium (2006).
A pair of those three-run frames came against River Walkers starting pitcher Edward Kunzelman.
The first came in the top of the second, when they opened the inning with four straight hits.
The third hit was an RBI single from Nick Kline. The third, a two-run double from Connor Walsh
Now leading 3-1, the Monarchs plated three more off Kunzelman in the sixth. Jim Peebles delivered all three with his 23rd homer of the season.
Now up 7-1, Kansas City put up its third three spot in the top of the eighth against the St. Louis bullpen.
The Monarchs loaded the bases with one out against Brennan Weldon.
Nick Jernigan drove all of them home with a double.
KC starting pitcher Jose Buenrostro didn't last long enough to earn the win.
He pitched just 4.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits.
The victory went to Jose Lazaro (5-3), allowed finished the fifth inning and worked a scoreless sixth.
After that, the Monarchs closed the game with an inning apiece from Juan Crespo, Yelson Rafael Sanders and Andy Carruthers.

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Record: 65-49, 1st, 1 GA Cedar Rapids
Travis Rinker allowed one run over the first six innings, and Kansas City took control with a four-run top of the fourth as the Monarchs downed St. Louis 6-2 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Nick Jernigan put KC on top in the top of the third with a two-out solo homer off River Walkers starting pitcher Xavier Wigfall.
An inning later, the Monarchs expanded that lead to 5-0.
Wigfall put the first to runners on base himself, with a walk and a hit batter.
Josh Shuler and T.J.Latham later connected on RBI singles.
Rinker took care of the other two with a two-out double.
When Alejandro Crespo singled off reliever Ron Cox in the seventh, and later scored on a Jim Peebles fly ball, KC led 6-0.
Rinker (11-8) allowed one run on four hits over his six innings. He struck out four and didn't walk a batter.
Jose Lazaro handled the seventh and got the first out of the eighth for the Monarchs.
Juan Crespo finished the eighth for KC.
David Rufillo set St. Louis down in order in the ninth.

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Record: 66-49, 1st, 1 GA Cedar Rapids
Rookie Kevin Hrdlicka pitched six shut-out innings, and Bob Saavedra broke up a 0-0 game with a solo homer to lead off the bottom of the sixth as St. Louis went onto defeat Kansas City 5-1 at Busch Stadium (2006).
The win allowed the River Walkers to avoid being swept in the three-game series.
Saavedra's eighth homer of the season, off Monarchs starting pitcher Tyler Martin, broke up the pitcher's duel.
St. Louis added two more runs an inning later against the KC bullpen.
The Walkers banged out three singles in the inning, including ones by pinch-hitter Nathaniel Dixon and Saavedra which scored runs.
After KC got its lone run in the top of the eighth, T.J. Leitch hit a solo shot off Bobby Westerman, the Walkers answered with a pair in the bottom half as Marcos Francis and Nick Shaw hit back-to-back bombs to open the frame off Andy Carruthers.
Hrdlicka (2-4) allowed four hits -- all singles -- in his six innings. He struck out four and walked seven.
Greg Sones worked a scoreless seventh, while Westerman handled the eighth when he allowed Leitch's homer.
Armando Cintron kept the Monarchs off the board in the ninth.

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MBL news: Week 19 -- Awards and standings

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Record: 67-49, 1st, 2 GA Cedar Rapids
Josh McDonald finally got back into the win column allowing one run over seven innings, and powered by homers from Nick Shaw and Jose Segura St. Louis downed Green Bay 10-3 at PNC Park.
McDonald (10-7), who had gone 0-5 in his previous eight starts, surrendered a solo homer in the fifth inning to Sal Valdez, it made the score 4-1, in his seven innings.
He allowed six hits in his time on the mound while striking out seven and walking one.
The River Walkers took control in a four-run top of the third against Mallards starting pitcher Bryan Sharpe.
Marcos Francis and Nick Shaw provided the big hits.
Francis drove in a two with a single.
Shaw, the next hitter, also plated a pair but doing it with a double.
St. Louis turned it into a blowout with a five-run seventh.
Bob Saavedra and Francis both scored runs with singles.
Shaw then plated three with a homer.
Former St. Louis reliever Gil Meier allowed all the runs.
Jose Segura capped the scoring for the Walkers with a solo homer in the eighth.
Austin Clayton hit a two-run homer off Scott Rissler in the ninth.
Rissler pitched a scoreless eighth.
Bobby Westerman relieved Rissler and struck out Cade Doughty to end the game.

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Record: 67-50, 1st, 1 GA Cedar Rapids
Green Bay put up a pair of three-run innings against St. Louis 14-game winner Shane Drogo, and the Mallards went on for an 8-5 win over the River Walkers at PNC Park.
Green Bay's big innings against Drogo came in the bottom of the first and third.
Errors played a role in both outbursts.
St. Louis second baseman Marcos Francis made a wild throw to first on a ball hit by Sal Valdez in the first, which allowed a pair of runs to score.
That made it 3-0. The game's first run had scored on a Drogo wild pitch.
In the third, Valdez opened the scoring with the first of his two homers, this one a solo shot off Drogo.
Third baseman Bob Saavedra later dropped a fly ball hit by Austin Clayton, which put two runners board.
Kerry Fackelman drove them both in with a two-out double.
St. Louis would climb to within 6-3 with a pair of runs in the fifth and another in the sixth.
But Valdez pushed the lead back to 8-3 with a two-run homer off Brennan Weldon in the bottom of the seventh.
Eddie Estrella capped the scoring with a two-run homer off Mallards reliever Alejando Velazquez in the top of the ninth.
Green Bay starting pitcher Ernesto Tello (8-8) allowed three runs on eight hits over 5.2 innings. He struck out six and didn't issue a walk.
Brad Tonks got the final out of the sixth for the Mallard.
Former Walkers closer Ernesto Barbosa retired all six batters he faced to get the game into the ninth.
Velazquez got the first two outs, but exited after allowing the Estrella homer and a Saavedra single.
Matt Rodriguez stepped in and got Marcos Francis to ground out for his 20th save.

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Record: 67-51, 1st (Tied/w. Cedar Rapids), 2.5 GA Springfield
Tied 5-5, Green Bay scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to propel the Mallards to a 7-5 win over Green Bay at PNC Park.
Green Bay banged out four singles in the inning -- three of them of the infield variety -- and also benefited from a wild pitch.
All of the runs scored with two outs and Bobby Westerman on the mound.
Westerman took over with a runner on first and two outs.
Cade Doughty greeted Westerman with a single.
Blaze Jordan followed with another single, scoring the inning's first run.
After a wild pitch put runners on second and third, Austin Clayton was given an intentional walk.
Ramon Puente spoiled that strategy beating out a ground ball to shortstop Abdul-Nasser bin Amr as Doughty scored the inning's second run.
St. Louis had tied it at 5-5 in the top of the seventh on a lead-off homer by Manuel Coke off former Walkers reliever Manuel Coke.
The Mallards jumped out to a 3-0 lead against St. Louis starter Edward Kunselman in the bottom of the first.
Clayton scored the final two runs with his 28th homer of the season.
The Walkers tied it with three runs in the top of the third against Green Bay starter Alex Duarte.
An RBI double by Jackson Miller off Duarte in the fourth put St. Louis ahead 4-3.
The Mallards tallied twice in the bottom of the fifth against Kunselman to regain the lead at 5-4.
Duarte lasted just four innings, allowing four runs on seven hits.
Dan Sutherland worked the fifth and recorded the first two outs of the seventh.
Meier (1-0) earned the win for finishing the sixth and also working the seventh.
Elji Konno and Matt Rodriguez worked the eighth and ninth, respectively, without allowing a run.
Rodriguez raised his save total to 21.

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Record: 68-51, 1st, 1 GA Cedar Rapids
St. Louis jumped out to a 3-0 lead after an inning and a half, and held on to defeat Cleveland 7-4 at Cleveland Stadium (1980).
Catcher Jackson Miller had a nice day at the plate for the River Walkers going 3 for 5 with a homer, three runs scored and an RBI.
Miller scored the game's first run in the top of the first, when he doubled with one out off Juke Box Heroes starting pitcher Bill Van Gieson and scored when Nick Shaw hit his 16th homer of the season.
Miller hit a solo homer in the second off Van Gieson to make it 3-0.
It's lead sitting at 4-3, the River Walkers expanded that edge with three runs in the top of the eighth against the Cleveland bullpen.
Heroes reliever Leo Hermosillo allowed the first three batters to reach base, including an RBI double by Nathaniel Dixon.
Pinch-hitter Eddie Estrella then drove in a run with a ground out.
Bob Saaedra plated the game's final run with a single.
St. Louis starting pitcher Xavier Wigfall (9-9) worked 6.2 innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He struck out five and walked three.
Reliever Greg Sones replaced Wigfall, and failed to retire any of the three batters he faced -- allowing two singles and a walk -- as the Heroes scored once to pull to within 4-3.
Scott Rissler got Edgar Bustillos to fly out with the bases loaded to end the seventh.
Ron Cox worked a scoreless eighth, but issues three walks in the ninth to load the bases with two outs.
Nick Strother took over, and allowed a single to Bustillos to make it 7-4.
However, Strother got Joey Kiernan to fly out to end it.
The save was Strother's 24th of the season.

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Record: 69-51, 1st, 2 GA Cedar Rapids
Abdul-Nasser bin Amr led off the top of the 15th inning with a home run off Cleveland relief pitcher Josh Paul, and St. Louis would go on to score four runs in the inning on its way to a 13-9 win at Cleveland Stadium (1980).
Bin-Amr's fourth homer of the season only sparked the late-game offense for the River Walkers.
Zach Wenman, Eddie Estrella and Bob Saavedra followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases.
Nick Shaw later drove in three runs with a double, making it 13-9.
Juke Box Heroes starting pitcher Bob Granillo hit a three-run homer off St. Louis starter Kevin Hrdlicka in the bottom of the second to put his team up 3-0.
The River Walkers exploded for seven runs in the top of the fifth.
Manuel Coke and Shaw had the big hits.
Coke had a two-run double. Shaw plated a pair with a single.
Down 7-4, the Heroes later took the lead following a five-run bottom of the sixth.
Javy Guterrez did most of the work with a grand slam off Walkers relief pitcher Nick Ruffalo.
The Walkers tied it in the top of the ninth.
Marcos Francis, Manuel Coke and Nick Shaw opened the inning with three consecutive singles off Heroes relief pitcher Willie Mendoza.
After Jose Segura struck out with the bases loaded, Mike Fagan took over for Cleveland.
Nathaniel Dixon hit into a fielder's choice, with Francis scoring to make it 9-8.
Fagan then made an errant pick-of throw to first, allowing Coke to score to tie the game.
St. Louis used seven pitchers to earn the win.
Rookie starter Kevin Hrdlicka lasted five innings, allowing four runs on six hits. He walked five and struck out seven.
Scott Rissler failed to record an out while pitching in the sixth. He was charged with three of the Heroes runs.
Nick Ruffalo got all three of the outs in the sixth, but also was charged with giving up two runs.
After that it was, Bobby Westerman, Nick Strother, Armondo Cintron for two scoreless innings.
Brennan Weldon (5-1) pitched three innings, also not allowing a run, to earn his fifth win of the season.

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Record: 70-51, 1st, 3 GA Cedar Rapids
Josh McDonald tossed a one-hit shutout to help lead St. Louis to a 5-0 win over Cleveland at Cleveland Stadium (1980).
The only hit allowed by McDonald was a two-out single by Mac Horvath in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The Juke Box Heroes only other base runner came on a two-out walk to Cesar Salazar in the sixth.
McDonald also struck out 13 and needed 113 pitches to complete the game.
His game score of 97 tied for the best of the season by a starting pitcher.
Ann Arbor's Jon Kunda also posted a 97, when he threw a no-hitter in a 9-0 win over Detroit on June 10.
The River Walkers didn't get their first hit of the game until Abdul-Nasser bin Amr doubled off Cleveland starting pitcher Anton Alguezes with one out in the top of the fifth.
That double scored Jose Segura with the first run of the season.
Segura had reached when he was hit by a pitch.
St. Louis added two more runs in the sixth -- Nick Shaw with an RBI single and Mark Herman with a run-scoring double off reliever Willie Mendoza -- and again in the eighth when Manuel Coke connected on a two-run single off Mike Fagan.

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Record: 71-51, 1st, 4 GA Cedar Rapids
Tied 3-3, St. Louis exploded for five runs in the top of the 10th inning and went on for an 8-3 win over Cleveland to complete a four-game sweep at Cleveland Stadium.
The River Walkers jumped out to a lead with a pair of runs of Juke Box Heroes starting pitcher Luke Madden in the top of the first inning.
Cleveland, however, went up 3-2 with run off St. Louis starter Shane Drogo in the bottom of the fifth -- Travis Swaggerty with a one-out RBI single -- and two in the sixth complements of a two-run homer from Jon Howard.
In the 10th, St. Louis saw its first four batters reach base against reliever Jonathon Boyle.
Jackson Miller and Manuel Coke got things going with back-to-back singles.
Nick Shaw made it three consecutive singles, with his hit driving in Miller.
Marcos Franciso followed with a double, scoring Coke to make it 5-3.
Josh Paul replaced Oliver but was greeted by a run-scoring fly ball by Mark Herman.
Jose Segura then supplied the big blow, his 11th homer of the season, a two-run blast making it 8-5.
Drogo took a no-hitter into the bottom of the fifth when Jon Howard led off with a single.
The left-hander ended up pitching six innings, allowing three runs on five hits.
Greg Sones got the first two outs of the seventh for St. Louis.
He was placed by Bobby Westerman, who finished the seventh and notched the first two outs of the eighth.
Nick Ruffalo wrapped up the eighth inning.
Scott Rissler (6-2) pitched scoreless ball in the ninth and 10th to earn his sixth win.

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MBL news: Week 20 -- Awards and standings