2033 St. Louis River Walkers: And the saga continues

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We're four games from the halfway point. Changes are a coming.

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Record: 31-46, 7th, 15.5 GB Des Moines
Edward Kunselman pitched eight shutout innings and Mike Davis handled the ninth, as Toledo shut out St. Louis 8-0 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (1974).
Kunselman (6-6) allowed just three hits (two singles and a double) over his eight innings. He struck out five and walked two.
He was lifted after throwing 110 pitches.
Davis allowed a two-out single to Nick Shaw in the ninth, but nothing else as the Mud Hens took their third straight game from the River Walkers with one game left in the series.
Toledo broke open a scoreless games with back-to-back home runs from Chris Gibbs and Jorge Alvarado off St. Louis starter Jesse McNaboe to open the bottom of the third inning.
A pair of walks in that inning led to a third run, Quiang Chang driving it in with a two-out single.
The Mud Hens added two more runs in the fifth.
They put four straight hitters on open the inning with three singles and an error by third baseman Jovan Gill.
Jorge Alvarado had an RBI single in that mix.
Andy Jordan spanked a solo homer off reliever Kevin Baker in the seventh, upping the Hens advantage to 6-0.
Chang collected his second RBI of the game in the eighth by driving in one of that inning's two runs with a double off Luke Dunkin.

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MBL news: June 26 -- All-Star game fan voting update

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Record: 32-46, 7th, 14.5 GB Des Moines
Zack Hunsicker tossed six shutout innings and St. Louis cranked five home runs as it avoided a four-game sweep at Toledo with a 9-1 win at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (1974).
Hunsicker (3-6) held the Mud Hens scoreless until allowing a lead-off homer to Ryan Holgate to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning.
By that time, the River Walkers already led 5-0.
The veteran right-hander left afterHolgate's homer.
In six innings, he allowed the one run on four hits. he struck out four and walked two.
Scott Rissler (1.1 IP) and Josh Forgy (0.2) combined to pitched the seventh and eighth innings.
Oscar Martinez took care of the ninth without much incident.
After getting shutout in their previous game, the Walkers waited until the third inning of this one before scoring.
Jared Thomas got them going by leading off that inning with the first of his two solo homers in the game, this one a lead-off blast off Toledo starter Bobby Wheeler.
Kyren Paris added a two-run homer with two outs later in the inning, making it 3-0.
Thomas led off the fifth with his second home run of the game.
Jovan Gill made it a back-to-back with his 11th of the season, both coming off Wheeler.
The Walkers made it ugly with four runs in the ninth.
Jose Segura drove in the first two runs with his 13th homer, a two-run job off Jorge Aristizabal.

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MBL news: Week 12 -- Awards and standings

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The St. Louis River Walkers have learned that right-handed relief pitcher Luke Dunkin has been lost for the remainder of the season with a ruptured disc in his back.
Dunkin, 31, suffered the injury in an 8-0 loss to Toledo on June 25.
In his first season with the Walkers, after spending two seasons in Rockford, Dunkin pitched in 35 games for St. Louis posting a 1-4 record with two saves, and a 3.38 ERA.
Getting the callup from Memphis will be John Good, a 27-year-old right-handed reliever.
Good has pitched in 17 games for the Redbirds in 2033, going 4-2 with five saves and a 2.10 ERA.

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Record: 33-46, 7th, 13.5 GB Des Moines
Jerry Tate pitched six scoreless innings, and Josh Forgy did most of the rest as St. Louis posted its second straight shutout with a 5-0 win over Des Moines at Busch Stadium (2006).
With his team up 1-0, Tate (2-5) didn't allow the Harvesters much through the first five innings, but he got into trouble early in the sixth.
A pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out.
Forgy got the call, and somehow got out of the jab.
He struck out pinch-hitter David Tapley, before getting another pinch-hitter, Leo Cerna, to ground into a force play with the runner being retired at home.
Forgy then got Ryan Johnstun to ground out to end the threat.
Forgy followed that with scoreless seventh and eighth innings.
Kevin Baker worked around a lead-off double by Trent Rowan in the ninth to seal the win.
The River Walkers got the only run they would ultimately need in the bottom of the third.
Jovan Gill led off with a double off Harvesters starting pitcher Manny Pescosolido.
A bunt by Tate moved Gill to third.
Alex Greene scored him with a ground ball to the left side.
Jose Ramirez hit two-run homer off Pescosolido in the sixth, making it 3-0.
A two-run single from Daniel Becerra in the eighth off John Curtiss capped the scoring.

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Record: 33-47, 7th, 14.5 GB Des Moines
Trailing 4-2, Rafael Devers hit a three-run home run off St. Louis reliever Nick Ruffalo with two outs in the top of the seventh inning to help lift Des Moines to a 5-4 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
River Walkers starter Xavier Wigfall had been impressive coming into the seventh, having allowed two runs, but got into trouble with a single and a walk while recording a pair of outs.
Ruffalo got the call to face Devers, a future Hall of Famer, and it didn't work out.
Devers hit a 1-2 pitch 442 feet over the wall in right-center, his 16th homer of the season to put the Harvesters ahead 5-4.
Des Moines starting pitcher Marshall Larcombe worked five innings, allowing one run on five hits.
Ryan Cusick started the sixth, and took a pounding as St. Louis got a three-run homer from Jared Thomas before he record an out.
It was Thomas' second homer of the game.
Jake Amezquita got out of the sixth without any more damage.
Amezquita (5-1) would earn the win.
After that, it was a scoreless inning each from Yuki Matsui, Craig Burch and Travis Krogman.
The save was Krogman's 22nd of the season.

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Record: 33-48, 7th, 15.5 GB Des Moines
Tied 9-9, Orlando Torres hit a two-run homer off St. Louis reliever Cory Tiller in the top of the seventh inning to snap the tie, and Des Moines went on for a 14-9 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
The win was the second for the Harvesters in the three-game series.
The River Walkers had evened the game at 9-9 in the bottom of the sixth on a grand slam from Jose Ramirez off Des Moines relief pitcher John Curtiss.
It didn't stayed tied for long.
On the mound for the first time since a stay on the injured list, Tiller walked Ubaldo Capponi to open the top of the seventh.
Two pitches later, on a 1-0 count, Torres bashed his homer, over the right-field wall to put the Harvesters in front for good.
It was quite a day for Torres, as he hit for the cycle going 4 for 5 with a single, double, triple, homer, two runs scored and four RBIs.
Des Moines kept on adding the runs over the final two innings.
Torres had a two-run double off Nick Ruffalo in the eighth to make it 13-9.
A throwing error by Javon Gill in the ninth helped make it 14-9.
Harvesters starting pitcher Teddy Loetzch got rocked for five runs on nine hits in 4.2 innings.
Six relievers followed him to the mound.
Juan Amezquita got the final out of the fifth inning.
John Cutriss (0.1 IP) and Ryan Cusick (0.2) combined to work the sixth.
Cusick (3-1) would earn the win.
Yuki Matsui, Cory Burch and Travis Krogman would combine to close out the game, all working a scoreless inning.

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Walkers news: July 1 -- Player Development Report

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

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

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MBL news: July 1 -- American League leaders

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MBL news: July 1 -- National League leaders

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Walkers news: July 1 -- Team statistics for June

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Player of the Month: Alex Greene -- The 31-year-old right fielder batted .350 with two homers, 10 RBIs and 20 runs scored in 26 games. He got on base at a .422 clip and slugged .553.
Starting pitcher of the Month: Xavier Wigfall -- The 24-year-old right-hander went 1-3 in six starts with a 4.79 ERA. He pitched 35.2 innings, striking out 31 and posting a 1.37 WHIP.
Relief pitcher of the Month: Josh Forgy -- The 29-year-old lefty got into 13 games and went 0-1 without a save but posted a 0.66 ERA over 13.2 innings. He struck out five and had a 0.66 WHIP.

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Record: 34-48, 7th, 15.5 GB Des Moines
St. Louis starting pitcher Jesse Mcaboe took a shutout into the ninth inning -- when Springfield busted loose for five runs -- but it didn't really matter as the River Walkers already led 8-0, in a game they won 8-5 at Oracle Park (2020).
McNaboe allowed just two hits over the first eight innings before surrendering three straight to start the ninth.
For the game, McNaboe (7-6) would be charged with three runs on five hits. He struck out seven and walked one.
A Riley Greene double off McNaboe scored Alex Otero with the Railers' first run, making it 8-1.
Oscar Martinez took over and allowed singles to two of the three batters he faced, allowing two more runners to cross the plate.
Kevin Baker then got the call and was greeted by a Kole Cottam double, which made it 8-4.
However, Baker retired the next two, although a run did score, to seal the win.
The Walkers took charge early with six runs over the first three innings.
Jose Segura put St. Louis in front 2-0 in the top of the first with a two-run homer off Springfield starter Juan Valdez.
Kyren Paris tripled with two outs in the second off Valdez, expanding the lead to 3-0.
Daniel Becerra had an RBI single in the third, while Kevin Melendez hit a two-run homer in the third as the Walkers claimed a 6-0 advantage.
A solo homer from Alex Greene in the eighth off former Walker pitcher Argenis Batista capped the scoring for St. Louis.

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Record: 34-49, 7th, 15.5 GB Des Moines
Alex Otero doubled with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning off St. Louis reliever Yeison Santos to score Nolan Jones and give Springfield a 7-6 win at Oracle Park (2020).
Jones, a pinch-hitter, had led off the inning by drawing a walk from Santos.
However, Jones was thrown out at third while Riley Greene was in the process of striking out.
Billy Salas tripled to put a runner on third.
Otero then spanked the first pitch he saw into the gap in left-center to plate the winning run.
St. Louis jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the first.
Daniel Becerra did the bulk of the damage with a three-run homer off Railers starting pitcher Raul Ahumada.
Springfield answered with two in the bottom of the first off River Walkers starting pitcher Zack Hunsicker.
The Railers raced into the lead in the bottom of the fourth when Salas connected for a grand slam off Hunsicker.
Salas would hit for the cycle along with scoring three runs and driving in five.
St. Louis managed to tie the game with single runs in the sixth -- Alex Greene with an RBI single off Joseph Hughes -- and top of the ninth.
Greene doubled off Nick Thiel to lead off the inning and scored on a Jose Segura single.
Ahumada lasted four innings, allowing four runs on five hits.
Hughes and Thiel both pitched two innings.
Mario Reyes (2-4) gave up a run in the top of the ninth to tie it, his second blown save of the season, but got the win when the Railers scored in the bottom of the inning.

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Walkers news: July 3 -- Mid-season note from the owner

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MBL news: July 3 -- All-Star game fan-voting update