2028 St. Louis River Walkers: Starting our second decade

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The St. Louis River Walkers have announced the signing of catcher Jared Thomas to a seven-year extension.
The 27-year-old Thomas is in his fifth season as the primary catcher for the Walkers.
Thus far in 2028, he has played in 94 games during which he has batted .248 with 16 homers and 60 RBIs.
The deal will play Thomas $19.8 million per season with opt outs for Thomas after the 2034 season and the team before 2035.
If the deal runs its distance, it will be worth $138,600,000.
For his career with St. Louis, he was first called up in 2023, Thomas has batted .244 with 85 homers and 322 RBIs.
St. Louis is continuing to have discussions with pending free agents Jean Carmona (shortstop) and Adonis Medina (starting pitcher).

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Record: 71-43, 1st, 4.5 GA Des Moines and Kansas City
Jason Froelich made an impressive return to the St. Louis rotation, allowing one run over six innings in a 2-1 win over Louisville at Redbirds Stadium.
Froelich (1-0) started the season on the injured list and once he could pitch struggled, so up to this point had spent most of the season at AAA Memphis, where in fact he had struggled as well going 6-10 with a 5.96 ERA.
But with a rotation spot opening up with the trade of Tanner Bibee, Froelich got first shot and took full advantage.
The 25-year-old lefty allowed the one run, on a solo homer by Cory Acton in the bottom of the sixth, on five hits. He struck out five and walked two.
Cory Tiller got the first two outs of the seventh inning, before being replaced by Jake Alvarado who got the game to the ninth.
Jake Brentz allowed two base runners in the ninth, but no runs to earn his 20th save.
St. Louis got its only two runs in the top of the sixth, on Andrew Benintendi's 15th homer of the season.
It came off Redbirds reliever Jim Clark.
St. Louis second baseman Ozzie Albies had to leave the game after being injured during a collision while running the bases.
He is expected to deal with a back issue for the next two weeks.
It is uncertain if he will be placed on the disabled list.

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St. Louis River Walkers second baseman Ozzie Albies has been placed on the 10-day injured list for the third time this season with a back injury.
Albies, 31, had to leave the Walkers' 2-1 win at Louisville after aggravating his back after a collision while running the bases,
All three of Albies' trips to the IL this season have been tied to his back.
In 88 games this season, Albies is batting .302 with 14 homers and 57 RBIs.
Albies status is deemed day-to-day, but due to the fragile nature of his back it was decided to keep him out of action altogether.
Coming up from AAA Memphis will be 21-year-old third baseman Jose Reyes.
It will be Reyes' second trip to the majors this season.
In his earlier visit, he got into seven games where he batted .280 with two homers and two RBIs.

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Record: 72-43, 1st, 4.5 GA Kansas City
Thairo Estrada hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to snap a 6-6 tie, and lift St. Louis to an 8-6 win over Louisville at Redbirds Stadium.
It was a contest the River Walkers once led 6-0, only to see the Redbirds tie it with a run in the bottom of the seventh and a five-spot in the eighth.
Louisville closer James Carney came on for the ninth, but after a fly out from Carlos Vidal to begin the inning, Alek Thomas reached base with a single.
Facing a 1-1 count, Estrada then smoked the ball 386 feet over the left-field wall to put St. Louis in front.
In building their 6-0 lead, the Walkers scored single run in the first, third and fourth innings.
Jared Thomas then doubled the margin with a three-run homer off Brennan Malone in the fifth.
It's lead now at 6-1, St. Louis reliever Ricky Cisneros took some serious damage in the eighth when he surrendered two-run homers to Jonathan Vaughns and Michael Conforto as part of that five-run uprising.
After five consecutive sub-par outings, Walkers starter Adoins Medina was impressive allowing three runs on five hits over 7.1 innings.
Cisneros didn't retire a batter in the eighth while being charged with three earned runs.
Travis Krogman (6-1) got out of the eighth without any futher damage, which set him up for the win after Estrada's homer.
Ernesto Barbose did issue a walk in the ninth, but stuck out the other three batters he faced for his sixth save.

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Record: 73-43, 1st, 4.5 GA Kansas City
Coming off a no-hitter in his last outing, Angel Tiburico allowed a hit to the second batter he faced against Louisville -- and it was a solo homer by Jonathan Vaughns -- but he was pretty good after that going seven innings in St. Louis 7-1 win at Redbirds Stadium.
The victory completed a three-game sweep for the River Walkers.
St.. Louis actually went up 2-0 in the top of the first on a homer by Jared Thomas off Redbirds starting pitcher Owen White before Vaughns went deep in the bottom of the inning,
After that, it was all Walkers.
They scored twice in the third -- including Thomas driving in his third run of the game with a single.
Andrew Benintendi led off the fourth with his 300th career homer to make it 5-1.
Rookie Jose Reyes smacked a two-run triple in the eighth off Andres Garcia to make it 7-1.
Tiburcio (12-3) allowed one run on three hits over seven innings. He struck out nine and walked.
Luis Angel Medina worked a scoreless eighth.,
Zac Lowther did the same in the ninth.
Medina was diagnosed with an injury after the game, although no other details were available.

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MBL news: Week 18 awards and standings

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Record: 74-43, 1st, 5.5 GA Kansas City
Andrew Benintendi led off the top of the 10th inning with a homer run off Des Moines closer Omar Beintez to help give St. Louis a 5-4 win at Green Canyon Park.
A three-run homer from Andrew Foley off River Walkers starter Brendan McKay in the bottom of the third had put the Harvesters in front 4-2.
But the Walkers tied it in the top of the sixth.
Cris Rosario led off the inning with a homer off reliever Nick Spear.
Andrew Benintendi followed with a double and later scored when Alek Thomas came through with a bases-loaded single off Spear.
McKay lasted 5.2 innings, during which he allowed four runs on eight hits.
Cory Tiller finished off the sixth and pitched a scoreless seventh.
Jose Alvarado, Ernesto Barbosa and Jake Brentz all pitched a scoreless innings.
Barbosa (7-0) got the win.
Bentz notched his 21st save.

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The St. Louis have just learned that right-handed relief pitcher Luis Angel Medina will miss the remainder of the regular season with a torn labrum,
Medina last pitched on August sixth when he threw a scoreless inning.
The 29-year-old right hander had pitched in 44 games this season going 1-3 with a 4.78 ERA.
He will be replaced in the St. Louis bullpen by 24-year-old right-hander Tony Ramirez.
Ramirez has served as the closer for AAA Memphis this season, going 5-4 with 17 saves and a 2.91 ERA in 33 games.
He also made a brief stop with the Walkers, getting into six games during which he went 1-0 with a 5.40 ERA.

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Record: 74-44, 1st, 4.5 GA Kansas City
Des Moines steadily built itself a 6-0 lead -- scoring once in the third innings, twice in the fourth and fifth and once in the seventh -- to pave the way for a 6-2 win over St. Louis at Green Canyon Park.
Elih Marrero singled with one out off River Walkers starter Kaneo Kawamoto in the third inning and later scored on a two-out single from former RIver Walker Fernando Tatis Jr.
In the fourth, Marrero connected on a two-run double off Kawamoto to make it 3-0.
An inning later, Rafael Devers touched Kawamoto for a two-run homer.
The Harvesters now led 5-0.
Tatis Jr. took Travis Krogaman deep in the seventh, making it 6-0.
Harvesters starter Albert Hernandez (11-4) worked six scoreless innings allowing just two hits.
He struck out six and walked one.
Kellan Tulio, Vladimir Gutierrez and Joe Jimenez closed out the game by each throwing a scoreless inning.

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Record: 74-45, 1st, 4.5 GA Kansas City
Down 1-0, Des Moines scored twice runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and added three more in the fifth to pave the way for a 5-2 win over St. Louis at Green Canyon Park.
The victory was the second in a row for the Harvesters, who claimed the three-game series against the leader of the National League South Division.
After a strong outing in his return to the majors, a 2-1 win over Louisville on August 4, River Walkers starter Jason Froelich finally ran into trouble in the bottom of the fourth.
Rafael Devers got things rolling with a one-out double.
He moved to third when Jackson Miller followed with a single.
Devers scored on a third straight Harvesters' hit, an Austin Meadows single which left runners at the corners.
Three straight hits became four when Garrett Frechette singled to scored Miller.
An inning later, Glenn Santiago opened things with a double, and scored on a one-out double by Andrew Foley.
Miller did the rest with a two-run, two-out homer.
Harvesters starting pitcher Nick Pivetta (8-6) worked the first five innings, allowing one run on seven hits. He also struck out seven and walked one.
Nick Murdock held the Walkers scoreless over the sixth and seventh innings.
Joe Jimenez pitched the eighth, allowing a homer to Andrew Benintendi.
David Amador worked around a two-out single from Edward Olivares for his third save.

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Record: 75-45, 1st, 4.5 GA Kansas City
St. Louis scored three times in the top of the first inning and Adonis Medina took a shutout into the eighth, as the River Walkers won 3-1 over Fort Worth at Ebbets Field (1948).
A one-out double from Thairo Estrada got things rolling for the Walkers in the top of the first.
Andrew Benintendi chased him home with a single off Mad Men starting pitcher Hugh Fisher.
A wild pitch moved Benintendi to second, and he scored on a Cris Rosario double.
Rosario moved to third on a Jared Thomas single.
Another wild pitch from Fisher brought Rosario across the plate.
Medina shut out Fort Wayne for seven innings until Casrioti Rrustemi doubled with one out in the eighth and scored on a two-out, two-bagger from Robert Hassell.
Altogether, Medina allowed the one run on four hits over 7.2 innings. He struck out four and walked one.
Jose Alvarado came on and induced Dorian Gonzalez to ground out to end the eighth.
Jake Brentz sent the Men down in order in the ninth for his 22nd save.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have announced that second baseman Ozzie Albies has suffered a setback as he attempts to return from a back injury.
He is expected to be out for an additional week.
It is Albies third time on the injured list this season, all with back-related injuries.
The 31-year-old second baseman is batting .302 with 14 homers and 57 RBIs in 88 games this season.

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Record: 76-45, 1st, 5.5 GA Des Moines
Tied 2-2, Andrew Benintendi snapped the deadlock with a sacrifice fly that drove in Alek Thomas in the top of the fifth inning and St. Louis went on for a 7-3 win over Fort Worth at Ebbets Field (1948).
Thomas had reached on a one-out single off Mad Men starting pitcher Chandler Champlain.
A single from Thairo Estrada moved Thomas to third, setting the stage for Benintendi's tie-breaking fly ball.
The River Walkers lead grew to 4-2 in the eighth after Estrada reached on an error by pitcher Isaiah Dunlap and later scored on a Jared Thomas single.
But Fort Wayne pulled back to within a run with two in the bottom of the eighth.
Brian Sheppard led off the inning with a double off Ernesto Barbosa and Jonathan India reached on a one-out walk.
Sheppard would score on an Orlando Torres ground out.
St. Louis, however, tallied three times in the top of the ninth -- Estrada plated a pair with a double -- to give it a nice cushion.
Angel Tiburcio (13-3) earned his 13th win of the season by allowing two runs on four hits over six innings.
Jose Alvarado worked a scoreless seventh.
Barbosa had a rough eighth and had to be bailed out by Jake Brentz, who got the final out.
But Brentz wasn't needed to close it out, as Zac Lowther checked in to seal the win.

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Record: 76-46, 1st, 5.5 GA Des Moines
Yordan Alvarez hit a two-run, pinch-hit home run off St. Louis relief pitcher Ricky Cisneros with one out in the bottom of the ninth to lift Fort Worth to a 4-2 win at Ebbets Field (1948).
Cisneros had gotten Darlin Guzman to fly out to open the bottom of the ninth, but Ben Rortvedt followed with a single.
Alvarez then crushed the first pitch he saw 402 feet over the right-field wall to give the Mad Men the win.
Earlier, the River Walkers had gone up 2-1 in the top of the eighth when a pinch-hit double from Matt Olson had scored Alberto Checcehinato, who was pinch-running for Jose Reyes.
But Fort Worth got that run back in the bottom of the eighth.
Ernesto Barbosa retired the inning's first two batters before issing a walk to Jonathan India.
Robert Hassell chased him home with a double.
Fort Worth got a strong start out of Stephen Gonsalves who allowed just one run on two hits over the first seven innings.
Frankie Montas allowed a go-ahead run in the eighth.
But Eric Warren (8-3) set himself up for the win with a 1-2-3 ninth.

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Record: 77-46, 1st, 6.5 GA Kansas City
St. Louis ravaged the Fort Worth bullpen for 10 runs in the top of the 11th innings to power its way to a 13-3 win at Ebbets Field (1948).
The win gave the River Walkers victories in three of the games in the four-game series.
Their bullpen out of arms, the Mad Men hung Edwin Diaz out to dry and he took quite a pounding.
The former River Walkers closer allowed 10 runs on eight hits. He also walked a pair of batters.
One of the biggest hits was a two-run single from reliever Jake Brentz, his first hit of the season.
Alek Thomas had a two-run double, and Matt Olson hit a two-run homer.
Maybe more important was the two runs the River Walkers scored in the top of the ninth to help force extra innings.
Olson again had a key hit with an RBI single to make it 3-2.
Edward Olivares followed with another single to even the game.
St. Louis starting pitcher Kaneo Kawamoto allowed two runs on five hits over the first five innings. He also struck out seven and walked none.
Travis Krogman started the sixth, but failed to retire either of the two batters he faced.
After that, it was Zac Lowther (2.1 IP), Ricky Cisneros (0.2), Brentz (2.0) and Tony Ramirez (1.0), who took the mound for the Walkers.
Brentz (4-3) came out of it with the win.

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MBL news: Week 19 Awards and standings

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The game between the Cedar Rapids Golden Grapplers and St. Louis River Walkers scheduled to be played at Busch Stadium (1997), has been postponed by rain.
It will be played as part of a doubleheader on August 15.

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Record: 78-46, 1st, 6.5 GA Kansas City
St. Louis starting pitcher Jason Froelich allowed one run over six innings and also drove in the game-winning run as the River Walkers downed Cedar Rapids 3-1 in the first game of a doubleheader at Busch Stadium (1997).
Tied at 1-1, the Walkers' Keegan Fish was hit by a pitch by Golden Grapplers starter Rodolfo Cervnantez with one out in the bottom of the fifth.
After Cervantez recorded the second out, Froelich connected on a double into the gap in left-center field, which allowed Fish to break the tie.
St. Louis added an insurance run an inning later, Cris Rosario collected the RBI with a double which scored Thario Estrada.
Estrada and Andrew Benintendi had led off the inning with singles off reliever Steven Brault.
Rosario followed with his double.
Froelich (2-1) allowed one run on six hits in six innings.

Cory Tiller, Ernesto Barbosa and Travis Krogman closed it out with an inning apiece.
Krogman earned his fifth save.

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Record: 78-47, 1st, 6 GA Kansas City
Scoreless through eight innings, Cedar Rapids busted loose for three runs in the top of the ninth inning and rode that to a 3-1 win over St. Louis in the second game of a doubleheader at Busch Stadium (1997).
The Golden Grapplers got 5.2 scoreless innings out of starter Rick Atkinson, and 2.1 more from five relievers, while St. Louis starting pitcher Adonis Medina silenced Cedar Rapids for seven innings.
But that finally changed in the ninth.
Jerrion Ealy opened the inning with a single off Walkers reliever Tony Ramirez, who followed that by issuing a walk to Jose Leyva.
Jose Alvarado replaced Ramirez, but didn't bring anything to the mound with him.
Lewis Brinson greeted him with an RBI single.
With Mark Vientos at the plate, Alvarado uncorked a wild pitch to put runners at second and third.
Vientos then lifted a fly ball deep enough to score Leyva.
Alvarado followed that with a walk to Terrin Vavra to load the bases.
Ricky Cisneros took over, but allowed a single to James Gamble to make it 3-0.
St. Louis' Carlos Vidal did hit a two-out homer in the bottom of the ninth, but it didn't really matter.
Atkinson worked 5.2 scoreless innings, allowing three hits.
Drake Fellows finished off the sixth inning.
Evan Steele (0.1 IP) and Evan Palmer (0.2) combined to pitch the seventh inning.
Danny Schaeffer (0.2) and Steven Brault (0.1) did the same in the eighth.
Brault (3-6) did come out of it with the win.

The ninth belonged to Mauricio Cabrera, who earned his 15th save.

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Record: 79-47, 1st, 6 GA Kansas City
Carlos Vidal was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning to drive in the winning run of a St Louis 4-3 win over Cedar Rapids at Busch Stadium (1997).
The win gave the River Walkers victories in two of the three games in their series with the Golden Grapplers.
Cris Rosario would score the game-winning run, after he singled with one out off Cedar Rapids reliever Mauricio Cabrera.
Rosario moved to second when pinch-hitter Brendan McKay ground out.
The Grapplers than opted to walk Jean Carmona, before Albero Checchinato singled to load the bases.
That brough Vidal to the plate, and with a 0-1 count Cabrera drilled him allowing Rosario a clear path home.
St. Louis had trailed 3-0 before tying it with a trio of tallies in the bottom of the seventh.
Jose Reyes got things rolling with a one-out double off reliever Drake Fellows.
He scored when Vidal reached on an error by Cedar Rapids center fielder Jose Leyva.
Two batters later, Alek Thomas tied it with a two-run homer
St. Louis starting pitcher Angel Tiburcio allowed three runs on four hits over seven innings. He struck out 10 and didn't issue a walk.
Cory Tiller worked the eighth and got the first two outs of the ninth.
Closer Jake Brentz then took care of the next 2.1 innings.
Travis Krogman (7-1) pitched a scoreless top of the 12th and came out of it with his seventh win.