2032 St. Louis River Walkers -- Growing weary of just coming close

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Record: 51-30, 1st (Tied/w. Des Moines), 7 GA Cedar Rapids
Jerry Tate continued his impressive rookie campaign by picking up his eighth win by going seven innings, allowing just one run, in St. Louis 2-1 win over Cedar Rapids at Busch Stadium (1997).
Tate (8-1), who has won eight straight decisions since dropping his first start after being called up from AAA Memphis, allowed the one run on four hits. He struck out eight and walked one.
The Grapplers lone run came in the top of the first when Jose Morillo singled with one out.
He stole second and scored on a two-out double by Travis Swaggerty.
The River Walkers tied it in the third against Cedar Rapids starting pitcher Matt Wailzer.
Daniel Becerra doubled with one out and scored on a two-out single by Alex Greene.
A lead-off homer from Jovan Gill off Wailzer in the fifth provided the game's only other run.
Cory Tiller pitched a quiet eighth for the Walkers.
Ernesto Barbosa walked a batter but allowed nothing else by earning his 21st save in the ninth.

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Record: 52-30, 1st (Tied/w. Des Moines), 8 GA Cedar Rapids
St. Louis spotted Cedar Rapids a 5-0 lead, before rallying for an 8-5 win at Busch Stadium (1997).
River Walkers starting pitcher Rich Haas had all kinds of trouble over the first three innings -- allowing three runs in the first and two in the third -- but his teammates picked him up by rallying for the win.
The River Walkers scored single runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seven inning to pull within 5-4.
They then surged into the lead with a four-run bottom of the eighth.
Alex Greene doubled off Grapplers starter Justin Sterner and scored on an error by third baseman Mark Hill in the fourth inning.
Jovan Gill hit a solo homer off Ivan Alonzo in the fifth.
Jared Thomas homered in the sixth off Keith Kirby.
Jose Ramirez led off the seventh with a homer off Jose Infante to make it 5-4.
The Walkers didn't need the long ball in their big eighth-inning outburst.
Alex Greene led off with a double off Cedar Rapids reliever Billy Weiner.
Consecutive singles from Thomas and Nick Shaw scored a run, and put runners at first and second.
An error by second baseman Ryan Rickard on a ball hit by Jose Ramirez loaded the bases.
Jean Carmona drove in the inning's second run.
After a strike out of pinch-hitter Thairo Estrada, Weiner walked Daniel Becerra to make it 7-5.
Evan Palmer replaced Weiner, only to surrender a single to Jose Segura as the Walkers lead grew to 8-5.
Haas was able to salvage something after his rough start, he ended up going 5.1 innings allowing five runs on three hits. He sturck out three and walked six.
Andres Hernandez finished the sixth and got the first out of the seventh.
Nick Ruffalo finished off the seventh ining.
Josh Forgy and Ernesto Barbosa retired six straight hitters over the eighth and ninth.
Barbosa's save total grew to 22.

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Walkers news: July 4 -- Note from the owner

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MBL news: July 4 -- All-Star fan voting update

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Record: 52-31, 2nd, 1 GA Cedar Rapids
Cedar Rapids scored four runs over the first three innings off St. Louis starting pitcher Jesse McNaboe, to take a 4-1 lead, and the Grapplers held on for a 4-3 win at Busch Stadium (1997).
The victory allowed Cedar Rapids to avoid being swept in the three-game series.
Once again, McNaboe ran into first-inning trouble.
This time, he retired the game's first two hitters before giving up a walk and a pair of singles.
The second single, from Josh Friedman, drove in Travis Swaggerty with the first run of the inning.
Jose Morillo, who had the first single, later scored a wild pitch.
In the second, Steven Williams and Justin Filardo both doubled, the latter coming with two outs, to make it 3-0.
It's lead now 3-1, Swaggerty led off the third with a homer as the Grapplers took a 4-1 advantage.
A two-run double from Nick Shaw off Cedar Rapids starting pitcher Joey Ross in the bottom of the third made it 4-3.
That was the end of the scoring.
Ross worked just the three innings, allowing three runs on four hits.
Six relievers combined to finish the game -- led by Lorenzo Mascorro (2-2) who worked the fourth and fifth innings and earned the win,
After that it was, Jose Infante (0.2 IP), Ivan Alonzo (0.1), Billy Weiner (1.0), Evan Palmer (1-0) and Victor Ortiz (1.0).
The save was the 23rd of the season for Ortiz.

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MBL news: Week 12 -- Awards and standings

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Record: 53-31, 1st (Tied/w. Des Moines), 8 GA Cedar Rapids
Jose Ramirez hit a two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning to put St. Louis ahead 3-2, and the River Walkers went on for a 4-2 win over Cedar Rapids at Oracle Park (2020).
The Railers scored an unearned run in the bottom of the third inning on an error by St. Louis first baseman Nick Shaw to tie it at 1-1.
Billy Salas led off the bottom of the fourth with a double off St. Louis starting pitcher Kaneo Kawamoto, and he later scored on an Austin Wells fly ball as Springfield went ahead 3-2.
Ramirez turned that around in the fifth with his homer.
Alex Greene drew a one-out walk from former Walkers pitcher, and now Railers starter Wilson Lara, just ahead of Ramirez.
Ramirez hit a 1-2 pitch crushed a ball 443 feet over the wall in right-center for his 22nd homer of the season.
Jae-hong Chang added an insurance run with a pinch-hit homer off Jon Santiago with one out in the top of the eighth.
Kawamoto (4-5) allowed two runs on five hits over seven innings. He struck out eight and didn't walk a batter.
Josh Grissom worked a scoreless eighth inning.
Ernesto Barbosa pitched around a two-out single in the ninth for his 23rd save.

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Record: 54-31, 1st, 1 GA Des Moines
Zack Hunsicker pitched 6.2 shutout innings, and St. Louis squeaked out a 2-1 win over Springfield at Oracle Park (2020).
Hunsicker (6-4) allowed three hits while striking out three and walking five -- which someone didn't come back to bite him -- to earn his sixth win of the season.
The River Walkers went up 1-0 with a run off Railers starting pitcher Raul Ahumada in the top of the fifth.
Rookie first baseman Nick Shaw singled with one out, and he moved to second when the next batter, Jevon Gill, got clipped by a pitch.
A two-out walk to Jared Thomas loaded the bases.
With Hunsicker at the plate, Ahumada uncorked a wild pitch to score Shaw.
St. Louis got its other run in the top of the ninth against the Springfield' bullpen.
Former Walker minor-leaguer TJ Darr was on the mound.
He walked Jose Segura with one out.
Jovan Gill scored Segura two batters later with a double.
The Railers got their lone run in the bottom of the ninth on a one-out homer from Kyrien Paris off reliever Josh Forgy.
Forgy, however, retired the next two for his first save.
Also pitching for St. Louis were Ricky Cisneros (0.1 IP), who relieved Hunsicker with two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh and struck out the only batter he faced.
Yeison Santos (0.2 IP) and Cory Tiller (0.1) combined on a scoreless eighth.

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Record: 55-31, 1st, 1 GA Des Moines
Jerry Tate continued his impressive rookie season for St. Louis, tossing a complete game in the River Walkers 5-1 win over Springfield at Oracle Park (2020).
The win completed a three-game sweep for St. Louis.
Tate (9-1) scatted four hits while striking two two and walking three.
The lone run he allowed was came on a solo homer from Ruben Villanueva by which time the Walkers already led 4-0.
St. Louis scored two runs in each of the first two innings.
Jose Ramirez tripled with one out in the first off Railers starting pitcher Martino Banditelli.
Ramirez was injured while running the bases and left the game.
He is expected to be sidelined for five games, and will probably not be placed on the injured list.
Bandatelli allowed the next four batters to reach -- three via walk and an RBI single by Nick Shaw -- with Alex Greene drawing the third walk to drive in the inning's second run.
Daniel Becerra hit a two-run homer off Banditelli in the second, making it 4-0.
St. Louis got its final run in the top of the seventh off reliever Alex Gallegos.
Shaw led off with a double, and moved to third on a fly ball.
He later scored on a passed ball.

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Record: 55-32, 1st, 0.5 GA Des Moines
Jared Kelley shutout St. Louis into the seventh inning, and the Cincinnati bullpen did the rest as the River Sharks won 6-0 at Busch Stadium (1997).
The win snapped a three-game win streak for the River Walkers.
Kelley (7-5) allowed just two singles in his 6.1 innings on the mound. He struck out six and walked three.
Josh Morrow finished off the seventh inning.
Josh Paul held St. Louis scoreless scoreless over the final two frames.
It was another rough outing for the Walkers' Rich Hass.
The right-hander allowed five runs on eight hits over six innings.
Aaron Bracho got it going with a three-run homer in the top of the second, making it 3-0.
John Hardeman hit a solo shot in the third to push it to 4-0.
Francisco Meija led off the bottom of the fifth with a double, and scored on a Kelley single in the fifth.
Meija scored again in the eighth.
This time, he led off with a single off Andres Hernandez.
A Jake McCarthy doubled moved Meija to third.
Gus Trancoso picked up the RBI with a fly ball.

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Record: 56-32, 1st, .1.5 GA Des Moines
Tied 1-1, St. Louis scored three runs in the bottom of the second inning and held on for a 4-3 win over Cincinnati at Busch Stadium (1997).
Nick Shaw wasted no time snapping the tie after the River Sharks had evened it at 1-1 in the top of the inning, hitting a lead-off solo homer off Cincy starter Hugo Vasquez.
The River Walkers, however, were not finished.
Jean Carmona and Ricky Liriano followed the long ball with back-to-back singles.
Pitcher Jesse McNaboe then moved them both up a base with a sacrifice bunt.
Nathaniel Dixon chased them both home with a double.
The Sharks did make it close with single runs against McNaboe in the fifth -- solo homer from Landon Jordan -- and sixth -- Francisco Mejia led off with a double and later scored -- to pull within a run.
McNaboe (11-6) earned the win allowing three runs on seven hits in six innings. He struck out six and walked three.
Reliever Cory Tiller set Cincinnati down in order in the seventh and also got the first two outs of the eighth.
Yeison Santos struck out Mejia to end the eighth.
Ernesto Barbosa worked around a one-out walk in the ninth for his 24th save.

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Record: 56-23, 1st, 1.5 GA Des Moines
St. Louis lost starting pitcher Kaneo Kawamoto to a forearm injury four batters into the game, and Cincinnati took advantage rolling to a 10-3 win at Busch Stadium (1997).
It is the second significant injury of the season for Kawamoto, who missed three weeks earlier in the campaign with a strained oblique.
This injury also is expected to keep the 35-year-old left-hander out for about three weeks.
Things had not started out well for Kawamoto, as he had already allowed a run before leaving with the injury.
Aaron Bracho drew a walk to leadoff the game.
He scored on a John Hardeman two-out single after moving to second on a ground out.
The River Walkers did take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first on a two-run homer from Jean Carmona off River Sharks starting pitcher Joe Blakeley.
A solo homer from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. off St. Louis reliever Ricky Cisneros in the top of the third tied it.
The Sharks went up 4-2 in the fourth, when Jake McCarthy cranked a two-run homer off Cisneros.
Cincy busted the game open in the top of the fifth with four runs against Andres Hernandez.
Bracho led off the inning with a homer.
McCarthy collected a second RBI with a double.
A wild pitch, one of two thrown by Hernandez in the inning, also scored a run.
Eric Peretz continued to pile up the damage against Hernandez with a two-out homer in the top of the sixth.
A Francisco Mejia double off Josh Forgy in the top of the ninth capped the scoring.
Joe Blakeley (4-7) turned in a solid outing allowing three runs on six hits.
Josh Morrow, Emerson Hancock and Josh Paul all contributed an inning of scoreless relief.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have placed left-handed pitcher Kaneo Kawamoto on the 10-day injured list after he suffered a strained forearm during the first inning of a 10-3 loss to CIncinanti on July 10 at Busch Stadium (1997).
It is the second trip to the disabled list of the season for the 35-year-old left-hander. He missed three weeks earlier in the season with a strained oblique.
In 13 starts this season, Kawamoto has gone 4-5 with a 6.36 ERA.
For now, with just one game remaining before the All-Star break, the Walkers have called up right-handed relief pitcher Kevin Baker from AAA Memphis.
It is the second trip to the majors of the 25-year-old, who has served as the closer for the Redbirds this season while in the minors.
In St. Louis, Baker got into seven games going 1-1 with one save and and 5.79 ERA.
Baker has fared much better in Memphis, having pitched in 18 games during which he has gone 3-3 with five saves and a 2.38 ERA.

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MBL news: July 11 -- Final All-Star game fan voting results

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MBL news: July 11 -- All-Star game rosters

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MBL news: July 11 -- Prospects Game rosters

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Record: 56-34, 1st, 1.5 GA Des Moines
Mason Montgomery shut out St. Louis over the first five innings, and the Cincinnati bullpen extended that until the bottom of the ninth as the River Sharks downed St. Louis 2-1 at Busch Stadium (1997).
The win gave Cincy victories in three of their four games with the River Walkers.
Montgomery (3-1) scattered four hits while striking out five and walking one over the first five innings.
Brendan McKay, Nick Ferretti and Jose Castenada all followed with scoreless innings to get the game into the bottom of the ninth, with the Sharks leading 2-0.
Sean Williams did give up a two-out homer to Jose Segura, but still came out of it with his 16th save.
The Sharks got both their runs on a two-run homer by Alex Richards off Walkers starter Zack Hunsicker in the top of the fourth.

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MBL news: July 11 -- Walkers' Saavedra is MVP of Prospects Game

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MBL news: Week 13 -- Awards and standings

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MBL news: July 13 - Milwaukee's Baty wins Home-Run Derby