2033 St. Louis River Walkers: And the saga continues

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Record: 33-26, 1st, 1.5 GA Springfield
Jesse McNaboe took a perfect game into the eighth inning before running out of gas and Brett McVey, although he gave up a hit, completed the shutout as St. Louis downed Fort Wayne 1-0 at Ebbets Field (1948).
The win completed a four-game sweep of the Mad Men by the River Walkers.
McNaboe (4-2) didn't allow a baserunner before giving up back-to-back walks to Jarred Kelenic and Jeremich Jackson with one out in the eighth inning.
In addition to the two walks, McNaboe struck out seven.
With runners on first and second with one out and a 1-0 lead, McVey took over and got Cade Doughty to fly out.
But Kane Gale then broke up the perfect game with a single to right.
However, Kelenic elected to hold up at third.
McVey then struck out pitcher Keith Talley to end the inning.
McVey set Fort Wayne down in order in the ninth for his first game.
The game's lone run came on the second pitch of the contest, Bob Saavedra knocking the ball into the seat in left center for his sixth home run of the season.

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MBL news: June 8 - Week 10 -- Awards and standings

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The St. Louis River Walkers have placed outfielder Jose Segura on the injured list after he suffered a knee injury while running the bases in an 1-0 win over Fort Wayne on June 7.
Segura, 32, is batting .178 this season in 52 games (36 starts) with two homers and eight RBIs.
Getting called up from AAA Memphis is 32-year-old outfielder Gabe Dudman.
Signed in the offseason to a minor-league contract, Dudman has hit .205 with eight homers and 19 RBIs in 47 games (42 starts) for AAA Memphis.

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Record: 34-26, 1st, 1.5 GA Springfield
Marcos Francis hit a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift St. Louis to an improbable 12-10 win over Quad City at Busch Stadium (2006).
The victory also was the fifth in a row for the River Walkers.
Quad City owned a 6-0 lead after a half-inning, an 8-0 lead after an inning and a half and 10-1 lead at the seventh-inning stretch.
Yet somehow, St. Louis came back.
The Walkers did the heavy lifting in the bottom of the seventh, matching the Thunder's first-inning outburst with a six-run inning of their own.
Wildness on the part of QC reliever Willie Mendoza was a big factor as he walked two batters and also hit two.
His second walk and second hit by pitch both came with the bases loaded and scored the inning's first two runs.
Rich Dodson followed a walk to Gabe Dudman with a single, which made it 10-4.
Shane Gilley took over and was greeted by an Abdul-Nasser bin Amr fly ball which was deep enough to make it 10-5.
Chris Duncan then made it 10-7 with a double.
St. Louis sliced the deficit to a run in the eighth.
A homer from Nick Shaw off Danny Garza plated the first two runs.
Dudman then drew another walk.
A wild pitch moved him to second.
Dudman then stole third and scored when catcher Alex Boychuk sailed past the third baseman.
The Walkers didn't waste much time against reliever Angelo Touliatos in the ninth.
Pinch-hitter Manuel Coke led off with a single.
Francis then got ahold of a 2-2 pitch and drove it 394 feet over the left-field wall for his ninth home run of the season.
It was a third straight ugly outing for Walkers starting pitcher Kevin Hrdlicka.
He lasted just two outs into the second inning and allowed eight runs on six hits in his 1.2 innings on the mound.
The young right-hander also walked three batters and hit one.
Ron Cox took over and supplied 4.1 innings of important relief, allowing one run.
Mike Fagan pitched the sixth and seventh and allowed the final QC run.
Bobby Westerman (2-1) earned the win after he didn't allow a base runner in the eighth or ninth.

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Record: 35-26, 1st, 1.5 GA Springfield
St. Louis won in walk-off fashion for the second consecutive game, this time getting a lead-off homer from Nick Shaw in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the River Walkers to a 6-5 win over Quad City at Busch Stadium (2006).
The previous game, Marcos Francis hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Thunder 12-10.
The victory increased the St. Louis win streak to six games.
Quad City had tied the game with a run in the top of the ninth.
Angel Solis scored the run after leading off the inning with a single off Walkers closer Bobby Westerman.
He scored when the next batter, Keith Reiter, doubled.
Down 2-0, the Walkers had grabbed the lead with four runs in the bottom of the third.
Shaw drove in the first two runs of that inning with a double off QC starting pitcher Pascal Marcovicci.
Waterson later scored on a Mark Waterson single.
The Thunder tied it with a pair of runs in the top of the next half inning.
Solis and Reiter collected the RBIs with two-out singles off St Louis starter Josh McDonald.
Waterson put the Walkers back in front 5-4 with a lead-off homer off Rodrigo Bueno in the fifth.
McDonald lasted just 4.1 innings in his start, allowing four runs on 10 his.
Scott Rissler stepped up in relief finishing the fifth, working a scoreless sixth and getting the first two outs of the seventh.
Armando Cintron struck out the only batter he faced to finish the seventh.
Mike Fagan pitched a scoreless eighth.
Despite suffering his fourth blown save, Westerman (3-1) earned the win for the second straight game.

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Record: 36-26, 1st, 2.5 GA Springfield
Down 2-0, St. Louis scored three runs in the top of the second inning and never trailed again as the River Walkers downed Quad City 4-2 at Busch Stadium (2006).
The victory gave St. Louis a sweep of the three-game sweep. It extended its win streak to seven games.
A lead-off homer from Nick Shaw off Thunder starting pitcher Hector Almedina plated the first Walkers' run of the bottom of the second.
But they were not finished as their next four batters reached base.
Eddie Estrella followed Shaw's homer with a double.
A Mark Waterson single put runners at the corners.
Estrella then scored when Zach Wenman reached on an error by center fielder Gabriel Hagan.
A single from Abdul-Nasser bin Amr then made it 3-2.
St. Louis got an insurance run in the sixth.
Shaw scored his second run of the game.
This time he led off with a single off Almedina.
He would score on a Wenman single off reliever William Myers.
Walkers starting pitcher Xavier Wigfall (5-5) went seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He struck out five and walked one.
Armando Cintron pitched the eighth.
Brett McVey handled the ninth for his second save.

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Record: 37-26, 1st, 3.5 GA Springfield
St. Louis scored four runs in the top of the first inning and two more in the second to grab a 6-0 lead and the River Walkers rode that for an 8-5 win over Louisville at Dodger Stadium.
St. Louis put its first four batters on base to begin the game against Sluggers starting pitcher Victor Mendez.
Bob Saavedra led off with a single.
He scored on a Manuel Coke double.
Marcus Francis singled, putting runners at the corners
And when Nick Shaw homered, the Walkers led 4-0.
In the second, St. Louis put its first three batters on base against Mendez.
Saavedra and Coke led off with back-to-back doubles, making it 5-0.
Marcos Francis followed with a single as Coke moved to third.
Rodolfo Cervantez replaced Mendez.
That didn't prevent Shaw from making it 6-0 with a deep fly ball to center.
A two-run homer from Bobby Chapman off Walkers starter Ming Xiang in the fourth made it 6-2.
St. Louis got that run back in the fifth when Abdul-Nasser bin Amr led off with a double off Cervantez.
He later scored when Xiang got down a bunt against Cole Duensing.
The Sluggers made it 7-3 in the bottom of the fifth.
Jairo Diaz doubled with one out off Xiang and scored on a Duensing single.
Mark Herman pushed the lead back to five runs when he homered off Duensing in the sixth.
Louisville would score two more times -- in the sixth on a Kinney RBI double of Xiang and in the ninth on a lead-off homer by Kinney -- but that was as close as the Sluggers could get.
Xiang (7-2) allowed four runs on five hits over six innings. He struck out three and walked two.
Mike Fagan, Greg Sones and Brett McVey closed the game with a scoreless inning of relief apiece.

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Record: 37-27, 1st, 3.5 GA Springfield
Louisville scored three runs in the bottom of the third inning and added two more in the fourth to go up 5-0, and the Sluggers went on to defeat St. Louis 7-2 at Dodger Stadium.
The loss ended an eight-game win streak for the River Walkers.
Bobby Chapman put Louisville on top with a two-run homer off River Walkers starting pitcher Jesse McNaboe in the bottom of the third.
An inning later, the Sluggers had their first three of their first four -- David Morales led off with a double, and after one out Jario Diaz singled and pitcher Kurt Halter scored -- to spark a three-run inning.
Halter's double scored the inning's first run.
The third double of the inning, with two out from Dan Boyle, made it 5-0.
St. Louis did crawl back to within 5-2.
But Louisville got a solo homer from Morales, off reliever Scott Rissler in the seventh, and an RBI single from Lance Brown (off Greg Sones) in the eighth, to stretch its lead back to five runs.
Halter, who was drafted by the Walkers, went 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on six hits. He struck out six and didn't walk a batter.
Corey Wood got the final out of the sixth for the Sluggers.
Clyde Rayner (1.0 IP) and Matt Whitmore (2.0) combined to finish the game for Louisville.

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MBL news: June 14 -- All-Star game fan voting update

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Record: 37-28, 1st, 3.5 GA Springfield
Louisville broke open a scoreless game with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and three in the fifth as the Sluggers went on to defeat St. Louis 6-1 at Dodger Stadium.
The win gave Louisville wins in the final two games of the three-game series.
After starting the season 5-1, River Walkers starting pitcher Kevin Hrdlicka dropped his third decisions in his last four starts.
Hrdlicka opened the game with three shut-out frames but became unhinged in the fourth.
Dan Boyle got things rolling with a lead-off walk.
Boyle then stole second before Lance Brown coaxed a one-out walk.
A fly ball moved Boyle to third.
David Morales and Will Banfield then connected on back-to-back run-scoring singles to make it 2-0.
An inning later, Hrdlicka again got himself into trouble.
With one out, he hit Chris Zoltan with a pitch before walking Boyle.
Bobby Chapman followed with a single, scoring Zoltan.
Lance Brown was given an intentional to load the bases.
Tom Blevins plated two of those runners with a single, and Louisville's lead was 5-0.
Sluggers starting pitcher Jason James (5-5) allowed one run, it came in the top of the seventh making it 5-1 on three hits over 6.1 innings. He struck out five and walked two.
John Fiefield recorded the final eight outs of the game for the Sluggers.

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MBL news: June 15 - Week 11 -- Awards and standings

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Record: 38-28, 1st, 3.5 GA Springfield
Manuel Coke hit a walk-off home run with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning as St. Louis defeated Madison 4-3 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Coke's home run, his first since May 31, came on a 1-1 pitch from Muskies relief pitcher Marshall Larcombe.
It traveled 423 feet over the wall in right field.
The Muskies led 2-1 going into the bottom of the ninth before the River Walkers rallied to force extra innings.
Larcombe took the mound to start that inning opening it with a pair of strikeouts.
But Jackson Miller kept the game going with a single.
Eddie Estrella, who had homered in the seventh for the lone St. louis run, then drew a walk.
Nick Shaw followed with a single to load the bases.
Mark Waterson tied it with a single down the third-base line.
Walkers starting pitcher Josh McDonald allowed one run on five hits in the first six innings. He struck out four and walked two.
Mike Fagan took the mound for St. Louis to begin the seventh and allowed three straight hits which led to a pair of runs.
Armando Cintron finished the seventh and got the first out of the eighth.
Scott Rissler retired all five batters he faced in the eighth and ninth.
Bobby Westerman (4-1) retired the Muskies in order in the 10th and would get the win.

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Record: 38-29, 1st, 2.5 GA Springfield
Former River Walker pitcher Jim Martin shut out St. Louis over 8.1 innings and the Madison bullpen finished the job, as the Muskies won 7-0 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Martin (6-2), who spent the 2034 and part the 2035 seasons before being traded to Louisville, allowed four hits (three singles and a double) in his 8.1 innings on the mound.
He struck out four and walked two.
Martin exited the game after giving up a one-out single to Jackson Miller in the bottom of the ninth.
Robert Chacon took over and recorded a pair of fly outs to end it.
The Muskies jumped on St. Louis starting pitcher Xavier Wigfall for a run in the first.
It came via back-to-back one-out doubles from Brady House and Tyler Hamilton.
Madison added two more runs off Wigfall in the fifth.
Hamilton and former Walker Dan Hillard plated the runs with RBI singles.
Adam Macklin smacked a solo homer off Wigfall in the sixth as the lead reached 4-0.
The rest of the damage came against the Walkers bullpen.
Brett McVey gave up a run in the eighth.
Mark Holland tripled with one out and scored on a Kevin Militello single.
Armando Cintron surrendered two runs in the ninth.
Holland had an RBI single.
Militello plated the game's final run with a double.

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Record: 39-29, 1st, 3.5 GA Springfield
Down 1-0, Marcos Francis hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning to put St. Louis in front and the River Walkers went on to defeat Madison 3-0 at Busch Stadium (2006).
The victory gave the River Walkers wins in two of three games against the Muskies.
It took just two batters for St. Louis to grab the lead in the bottom of the fourth.
Mark Herman led off with a single off Madison starting pitcher Jesse Mucci.
Francis followed by hitting a 3-2 pitch 380 feet over the wall in left field for his 10th home run of the season.
The Walkers added another run in the sixth.
It was charged to Mucci after he gave up a one-out double to Nick Shaw.
Shaw scored when Zach Wenman connected for a two-out single off reliever Jorge Juarez.
The Muskies pulled within 3-2 in the top of the seventh.
John McCaskey doubled with one out off Walkers starting pitcher Ming Xiang.
McCaskey scored when Zach Ebert doubled with one out off reliever Greg Sones.
Madison would load the bases with two outs against Sones.
But Mike Fagan would step in and get Trent Rowan to ground out and keep the score 3-2.
Xiang (8-2) continued his impressive rookie season going 6.1 innings, during which he allowed two runs on eight hits. He struck out two and walked one.
Sones (0.1 IP) and Fagan (0.1) combined to finish the seventh with the Walkers still in front.
Bobby Westerman worked two innings of scoreless relief for his ninth save.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have recalled outfielder Jose Segura from the injured list and sent outfielder Manuel Coke to AAA Memphis.
Segura, 32, has been out since June 7 when he left a 1-0 win at Fort Worth with knee soreness.
It's been a rough season for Segura, who is hitting just .178 with two homers and eight RBIs in 52 games (36 starts).
For Coke, the trip to Memphis is hoped to be a wake-up call.
The 2036 National League Rookie of the Year had a strong April but has slumped ever since.
In 62 games this season, the 24-year-old is hitting .248 with nine homers and 30 RBIs.

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Record: 39-30, 1st, 3 GA Springfield
Alex Ochoa allowed one run over the first 6.1 innings and got plenty of support from his offense as Madison routed St. Louis 10-1 at Comiskey Park (1969).
Ochoa (4-4) allowed one run on seven hits (all singles) while striking out three and walking one.
The lone run he allowed came in the top of the seventh inning, by which time the Muskies led 5-0.
Madison jumped on top in the bottom of the second when it put its first three hitters on base against River Walkers starting pitcher Jesse McNaboe.
With the bases loaded following two singles and a walk, John McCaskey made it 1-0 when his ground ball scored Dan Hillard.
Hillard, who like McCaskey came up through the St. Louis minor-league system, had drawn a walk to open the inning
Ochoa scored Mark Holland with a deep fly ball for the inning's second run.
The Madison lead reached 3-0 in the fifth.
Nelson Becerra led off with a single off McNaboe and scored two batters later on a Zach Ebert single.
A two-run double by McCaskey off McNaboe in the sixth made it 5-0.
The Muskies would add two more runs in the seventh (RBI singles by Adam Macklin and David Kinney off reliever Ron Cox) and three in the eighth (Miguel Ortiz with a two-run single off Scott Rissler and a run-scoring fly ball by Mark Holland) to make it a rout.
Marshall Hornby replaced Ochoa in the sixth and got the final two outs of that inning.
He also pitched a scoreless eighth.
Robert Chacon kept the Walkers off the scoreboard in the ninth.

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Record: 39-31, 1st, 3 GA Springfield
Dan Hilllard hit a walk-off home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth to five Madison a 6-5 win over St. Louis at Comiskey Park (1969).
Hillard, who the Muskies required via trade from the River Walkers, hit his 435-foot bomb over the wall in left center off reliever Scott Rissler.
it was Hillard's 11th home run of the season.
Fueled by a pair of solo homers, along with an RBI double from Mark Waterson St. Louis owned a 5-2 lead after 4.5 innings.
The Muskies rallied with two runs in the seventh.
Zach Ebert had an RBI double off reliever Greg Sones.
Sones also gave up a run on a sac fly by Tyler Hamilton.
Madison tied it in the eighth.
Kevin Militello led off with a double off Rissler.
He scored on a two-out single by Ben Harkey.
Madison starting pitcher Brandon Pearson lasted just 4.1 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits.
After that, the Muskies bullpen skunked the Walkers.
Robert Chacon finished off the fifth for Madison.
After that, it was scoreless innings from Ben Johnson, Dakota Franc and Marshall Larcombe to complete the game.
Larcombe (4-4) was given the victory.

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MBL news: June 21 -- All-Star game fan-voting update

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Record: 39-32, 1st, 2 GA Springfield
Tyler Hamilton doubled with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning and later scored on a wild pitch by St. Louis reliever Nick Ruffalo, giving Madison a 3-2 win at Comiskey Park (1969).
The win gave the Muskies wins in two of three games in the series and a split of their six-game back-to-back with the River Walkers.
After Hamilton doubled off Ruffalo, he moved to third on an Adam Macklin single.
With Kevin Militello at the plate, Ruffalo threw a wild pitch on a 1-1 count allowing Hamilton to score the winning run.
St. Louis had tied it at 2-2 in the top of the sixth.
Marcos Francis led off the inning with a single off Madison starting pitcher Jim Martin.
A Mark Herman single moved Francis to third.
Nick Shaw hit a fly ball to deep left to score Francis.
Martin, who had shut out St. Louis into the ninth inning in his previous start, was pretty good this time as well.
This time, the veteran right-hander allowed two runs on five hits in 5.1 innings. He struck out eight and walked one.
Luis Bahena finished the sixth inning for Madison.
The win went to Tony Phillips (4-2), who pitched two innings of scoreless relief striking out six.
Marshall Larcombe set the Walkers down in order in the ninth for his 12th save.

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MBL news: June 22 -- Week 12 - Awards and standings