2033 St. Louis River Walkers: And the saga continues

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Record: 51-39, 1st, 6 GA Kansas City
Nick Shaw scored the winning run from third base when Cincinnati relief pitcher Mike Goldblatt was called for a balk with one out in the bottom of the 13th inning, as St. Louis defeat the River Sharks in the final game before the All-Star break at Busch Stadium (2006).
The victory gave the River Walkers wins in two of three games in the series.
Shaw had led off the inning with a single off Goldblatt.
He went to third when Marcos Francis followed with another single.
Goldblatt got Mark Waterson to fly out for the inning's first out.
However, Goldblatt was called for a balk on his first pitch to Jackson Miller, bringing Shaw home with the winning run.
A two-run homer from Tom Aloisio off St. Louis rookie starter Billy Hermann in the top of the sixth had given the Sharks a 3-1 lead.
St. Louis did not tie it until the bottom of the ninth.
Shaw and Francis also led this inning off with back-to-back singles, this time off reliever Victor Lizaola.
Waterson made it three straight singles to load the bases.
Miller flew out for the first out.
Abdul-Nasser bin Amr hit into a fielder's choice, scoring Shaw to make it 3-2.
Pinch-hitter Eddie Estrella then connected on a two-out single as Francis scored to tie it.
Hermann pitched six innings, allowing three runs on four hits. He struck out six and walked two.
After that, it was an inning apiece from Nick Ruffalo, Scott Rissler and Mark Pendleton.
Pendleton was making his major-league debut.
Bobby Westerman worked two scoreless innings.
Greg Sones (2-2) got the win after he also worked two scoreless frames.

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The National League defeated the American League 8-2 in the Prospects Game at Forbes Field (1959).
The MVP was Olivier Gonzalez (SS, Twin Cities, RL) who was 1 for 3 with a double, a run scored and three RBIs.
River Walkers players
OF -- Jose Juarez -- 1 for 2 with a double, a run scored and a walk.
C -- Ethan Hayes -- 0 for 0 with two walks.
RP -- Alex Ramos -- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 K

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MBL news: July 13 -- Week 15 - Awards and standings

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Walkers news: July 14 -- Ann Arbor's Tavarez wins Home-Run Derby

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The American League defeated the National League 6-5 at Forbes Field (1959).
MVP -- Hector Tavarez (Ann Arbor) -- Tavarez followed up his win in the Home-Run Derby with an MVP performance. The former top prospect for the River Walkers went 2 for 2 with two runs scored and four RBIs. All the RBIs came on a grand slam off St. Louis relief pitcher Brett McVey and gave the AL a 5-1 led.
River Walkers players
2B -- Marcos Francis - He was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
RP -- Brett McVey - He pitched one inning, allowing four runs (all on Taverez's grand slam) on two hits. He struck out one and walked two.

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MBL news: July 19 -- American League leaders at All-Star break

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MBL news: July 19 -- National League leaders at All-Star break

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Walkers news: July 19 -- Team statistics at All-Star break

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MBL news: July 20 -- Awards and standings

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Record: 51-40, 1st, 5.5 GA Kansas City
Already leading 1-0, Cedar Rapids roughed up St. Louis starting pitcher Jesse McDonald for five runs in the top of the fifth inning to send the Grapplers to a 7-2 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
Cedar Rapids went up 1-0 in the top of the third when Mike Lamoureux singled with one out.
A double by Miguel Mato moved him to third.
Jose Morillo drove Lamoureux home with a deep fly ball to left.
The Grapplers busted it open in the fifth.
Mato drove in a pair of runs with a double off McDonald.
After an intentional walk to Morillo, Eric Gerhardt did the rest blasting three-run homer to make it 6-0.
Cedar Rapids starting pitcher Edwin Rivera (6-6) worked five innings not allowing a run. He gave up three hits while striking out four and issuing one walk.
Relievers Rhett Daniel and Joe Wahl.
Both pitched two innings and gave up one run.

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Record: 52-40, 1st, 6.5 GA Kansas City
Ming Xiang picked up his 10th win of the season, limiting Cedar Rapids to one run over seven innings, as St. Louis downed the Grapplers 3-1 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Signing out of Taiwan as a free agent in the off-season, Xiang (10-4) only gave up a fourth inning run on an RBI single by Matt Thurston which made the score 3-1.
Overall, Xiang allowed the one run on five hits. He struck out seven and walked one.
Brett McVey and Bobby Westerman both pitched scoreless innings in relief.
Westerman earned his 14th save.
Manuel Coke put St. Louis in front with a solo homer off Grapplers starting pitcher Josh Downer in the bottom of the second.
An inning later, Bob Saavedra provided the rest of the scoring for the Walkers with a two-run shot, also off Downer.

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Record: 52-41, 1st, 6.5 GA Kansas City
Home runs fueled big innings for Cedar Rapids in the top of the fourth and eighth innings and the Grapplers went on to defeat St. Louis 8-4 at Busch Stadium (2006).
The victory was the Grapplers second of the three-game series.
A two-run homer from Eric Gerhardt off River Walkers starting pitcher Kevin Hrdlicka was the big blow of a three-run fourth for the Grapplers.
In the eighth, pinch-hitter Dane Finch hit a grand slam off Brett McVey in a five-run outburst which made it 8-2.
St. Louis got its first two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
The Walkers tallied two more in the eighth on a two-run homer from Mark Herman off Cedar Rapids reliever Joe Wahl, but all it did was get them to within four runs.
Grapplers starting pitcher Joel Glenn (5-6) allowed one run on five hits over 6.1 innings. He struck out four and didn't walk a bater.
Miguel Britten finished the seventh for the Grapplers.
Wahl handled the eighth, allowing the Herman homer.
Hector Miro tossed a scoreless ninth.

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Record: 52-42, 1st, 6 GA Kansas City
Down 3-0, Cedar Rapids roughed up St. Louis starting pitcher Xavier Wigfall to two runs in the bottom of the second and three more in the third to take the lead and the Grapplers went on to post an 8-4 win at Connie Mack Stadium (1960).
The River Walkers got off to a nice start scoring twice in the top of the first inning off Grapplers starting pitcher Matt Ray and adding a single run in the second.
But Cedar Rapids used the long ball to get back into the game as Tim Juregensen and Santos Villanueva cranked back-to-back homers off Wigfall in the second to make it 3-2.
The Grapplers then tallied three runs on three hits in the third.
Arnold Hammond drove in the game-tying run with a single.
Jurgensen struck again, this time with a two-run double as Cedar Rapids went up 5-3.
It's lead at 5-4, the Grapplers tallied twice in the sixth against the St. Louis bullpen.
Scott Rissler retired the inning's first two batters but walked two of the next three hitters to load the bases.
Greg Sones took over for Rissler but was greeted by a Gerhardt single which plated a pair.
Back-to-back two-out doubles by Steve Ricca and Mike Laoureux ioff Maximiliano Minelli in the seventh plated the game's final run.
Ray (4-4) worked five innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He struck out one and didn't walk a batter.
Justin Sterner and Miguel Britten pitched the sixth and seventh respectively.
Antonio Echevaria pitched the eighth and ninth without allowing a run.

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Record: 52-43, 1st, 5 GA Kansas City
Cedar Rapids jumped in front by scoring three early runs against St. Louis starting pitcher Jesse McNaboe, the Grapplers later broke it open by scoring a combined seven runs in the sixth and seventh innings as they downed the River Walkers 10-5 at Connie Mack Stadium (1960).
Miguel Mato, who was 3 for 4 with three runs scored, got Cedar Rapids on the board in the bottom of the first inning.
He led off with a single.
A walk to Eric Gerhardt moved Mato to second.
Mato stole third and scored on an Arnold Hammond fly ball to center.
In the second, Santos Villanueva led off with a homer off McNaboe.
The second run came with two outs.
Mike Lamoureux single.
A Mato single moved Lamoreux to third.
Lamoreux then left the game with an undisclosed injury.
Pinch-runner Tony Salvador scored the inning's second run on a McNaboe wild pitch while Jose Morillo was at bat.
Its lead trimmed to 3-2 after St. Louis scored twice in the top of the third,
Cedar Rapids expanded its advantage by thee in the bottom of the sixth.
The first two base runners -- an Austin Hendricks single followed by a walk to Salvador -- came against McNaboe.
The rest was off of Brett McVey, who has struggled since his appearance in the All-Star game.
Mato greeted McVey with an RBI double. Salvador was thrown out at the plate.
Morillo then tripled scoring Mato.
After an intentional walk to Eric Gerhardt, Hammond made it 7- 2 with a run-scoring single.
The Grapplers were at it again in the seventh, this time with Ron Cox on the mound.
Matt Thurston led off with a single.
He scored on a one-out double by Salvador.
Mato was then hit by a pitch.
With two outs, Gerhardt plated a pair with a double into the gap in left center.
St. Louis did score three times against the Cedar Rapids bullpen in the eighth, but the game never did get close.
Grapplers starting pitcher Jake Richardson (2-2) allowed two runs on six hits over the first five innings. He struck out four and didn't walk a batter.
Justin Sterner pitched a scoreless sixth inning. Jordyn Ibarra did the same in the seventh.
Joe Wahl (0.2 IP) and Anton Melendez (0.1) were on the mound in the eighth when the Walkers scored three times.
Antonio Echevaria worked a scoreless ninth.

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Record: 54-43, 1st, 5 GA Kansas City
Down 1-0, St. Louis scored three times in the top of the sixth inning and went on to defeat Cedar Rapids 4-2 at Connie Mack Stadium (1960).
The win allowed the River Walkers to avoid a three-game sweep. The Grapplers still took four of six games in the back-to-back series.
An Arnold Hammond home run off St. Louis starting pitcher Jesse McDonald in the bottom of the second inning accounted for the only scoring going into the sixth.
With Grapplers starter Edwin Rivera still on the mound, the Walkers got things going with a one-out single by Marcos Francis.
Manuel Coke and Nick Shaw followed with back-to-back run-scoring doubles.
Shaw later scored on a Jackson Miller single.
A lead-off triple from Jose Morillo helped Cedar Rapids pull to within 3-2 in the bottom of the seventh.
Morrillo's triple came off McDonald, who subsequently exited the game.
David Henderson scored Morillo with a deep fly ball to center.
St. Louis got that run back in the top of the eighth.
Shaw scored it after drawing a one-out walk from Jordyn Ibarra.
A Mark Waterson single moved Shaw to second.
After a strikeout of Eddie Estrella, Anton Melendez took the mound for the Grapplers.
He walked two straight to send Shaw across the plate.
McDonald (4-6) allowed two runs on two hits over the first six innings. He struck out five and walked two.
Greg Sones, Scott Rissler and Bobby Westerman both pitched scoreless innings in relief.
Westerman upped his save total to 15.

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MBL news: June 27 -- Week 16 - Awards and standings

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Record: 54-43, 1st, 6 GA Kansas City
Manuel Coke connected on a two-run double with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift St. Louis to a 5-4 win over Chicago at Busch Stadium (2006).
Nick Shaw led off the inning with a single off G-Men reliever Erik Perry.
But Perry retired the next two.
Abdul-Nasser bin Amr kept the inning going with a single.
Coke then delivered his big hit, driving a 2-0 pitch into the gap in left center to score both base runners.
Back-to-back solo homers from Jordan Lawlar and Luis Tejada in the first inning off St. Louis starer Ming Xiang staked Chicago to an early 2-0 lead.
It stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh, when Mark Herman got the River Walkers on the board with a lead-off homer off Chicago reliever Nate Finck.
The G-Men answered that with a pair of runs in the top of the eighth.
Ken Turner led off with a triple off the struggling Brett McVey.
After a one-out walk to Nate Carey, Ben Nelson drove both runners home with a pinch-hit double.
Bob Saavedra kept the Walkers in the game by belting a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth of Devin Eye as St. Louis went into the ninth trailing just 4-3.
Xiang pitched well after the first inning, allowing two runs on three hits over six innings. He struck out six and didn't issue a walk.
McVey fought his way through two rough innings.
Scott Rissler (4-4) worked a scoreless top of the ninth and benefited from it when the Walkers won it in the bottom half.

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Record: 54-44, 1st, 5 GA Kansas City
Kevin Hrdlicka won his first five decisions for the St. Louis River Walkers in 2037, after another mediocre outing against Chicago he's now 5-6 as the G-Men rocked him for five runs in four innings in a 6-4 win over the River Walkers at Busch Stadium (2006).
It took the G-Men just four batters to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.
Tony Nolasco led off the game with a single.
A walk to Jordan Lawlar moved him to second.
After strikeout of Luis Tejada, Nolasco and Lawlar pulled off a double steal.
Nolasco then scored on a single by Josh Rosbrough.
After the River Walkers tied it in the bottom of the first, Bob Saavedra led off with a double off Chicago starting pitcher Greg Salder and scored on a two-out single by Nick Shaw, the G-Men took the lead for good with a three-run top of the second.
Ken Turner led off the inning with a single.
He stole second and scored on a single by Sadler.
After Nolasco drew a walk, Hrdlicka struck out Lawlar for the second out.
But Tejada doubled to score Sadler. Nolasco was thrown out at the plate.
The G-Men got to Hrdlicka for another run in the third.
Danny Gutierrez singled with one out.
A passed ball by catcher Jackson Miller moved him to second.
Turner picked up the RBI with a single.
The River Walkers pulled to within 5-3 with a pair of runs off Sadler in the fifth.
The first run scored on a wild pitch while Saavedra drove in the other with a single.
When Manuel Coke led off the sixth with a homer off Sadler, St. Louis was within 5-4.
The G-Men pushed their advantage back to two runs in the seventh.
Armando Cintron took the mound and gave up three straight singles -- along with a balk -- as Willie Rubio's single scored Matt Walczak who had set things in motion with a lead-off single.
Sadler (8-5) allowed four runs on seven hits in six innings. He struck out five and walked one.
Jimmy DaPra pitched two scoreless innings in relief.
Nick Black handled the ninth for his fifth save.

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Record: 55-44, 1st, 5 GA Kansas City
St. Louis scored a pair of runs in both the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings to wipe out a 1-0 deficit, and the River Walkers went on to defeat Chicago 5-2 at Busch Stadium (2006).
The victory gave St. Louis wins in two out of three games in the series.
Back-to-back doubles to open the inning from Manuel Coke and Alex Nunez fueled the two-run fifth.
Coke scored on Nunez's double.
Both hits came off G-Men starting pitcher Juan Gomez.
Nunez later scored on a bunt by pitcher Xavier Wigfall
An inning later, with Gomez still on the mound, Marcos Francis hit his 19th homer of the season - a two-run shot -- to make it 4-1.
After Chicago pulled to within 4-2 with a run in the top of the eighth, Nick Shaw got it back with a solo homer off reliever Dave Valdeboncouer in the bottom of the inning.
Wigfall went the first 5.2 innings, allowing one run on three hits, he exited the game with a runner on first base.
Greg Sones took over and allowed the G-Men to load the bases.
But he struck out Matt Walczak to keep the score 2-1.
Scott Rissler pitched a scoreless seventh and got the first two outs before being replaced by Nick Ruffalo.
Ruffalo allowed a run but got out the inning with the score 4-2.
Brett McVey was perfect in the ninth for his third save.

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Record: 56-44, 1st, 5 GA Kansas City
Eddie Estrella led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a triple and scored when Abdul-Nasser bin Amr followed with a single as St. Louis defeated Grand Rapids 6-5 at Busch Stadium (2006).
Reliever Benjamin Wiegman was on the mound to give up the game-winning run.
Leonardo Rodriguez hit a two-run home run in the top of the seventh off River Walkers reliever Maximiliano Minelli to put the Traders ahead 5-3.
Bob Saavedra duplicated that bomb with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning off Grand Rapids starter Victor de Leon.
St. Louis got a decent start out of Matt Wilson who was making his major-league debut.
The left-hander pitched five innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He struck out three and walked the same.
Minielli did fine with a scoreless sixth inning but then allowed the Rodriguez homer in the seventh.
Brett McVey pitched a scoreless eighth and got the first two outs of the ninth.
He exited with two outs and runner on first.
Ron Cox took over and got Zach Simon to fly out to end the inning.
That was enough to earn Cox (3-0) the win.