2039 and beyond -- St. Louis River Walkers thread

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Record: 66-73, 5th, 6.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Manuel Coke hit a pair of two-run home runs to help lift St. Louis to a 5-3 win over Des Moines at Minute Main Park.
The victory was the sixth in a row for the River Walkers.
Coke's first homer came off Harvesters starting pitcher Isaiah Dunlap in the top of the third inning.
It made the score 3-0.
Mark Herman had driven in a run earlier in the inning with a single.
Coke took Dunlap deep again with two outs in the fifth, putting St. Louis in front 5-1.
All of the Harvesters runs came on solo homers.
Luis Tejada and Jamie Sanders homered off Walkers starter Kevin Hrdlicka in the third and fifth innings.
Ryan Rivet took rookie reliever Alex Ramos deep in the seventh.
Hrdlicka (11-8) wasn't great, allowing two runs on seven hits in six innings. He struck out four and walked the game.
Ramos pitched the seventh, allowing Rivet's homer.
Juan Munoz went two innings to earn his 11th save.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have announced that second baseman Ryan Wibbenmeyer will miss the remainder of the season with a severe hip strain.
It is the third trip to the injured list this season for Wibbenmeyer, who this time was placed on the 60-day IL
The 32-year-old played in just 71 games during which he batted .295 with no homers, 16 RBIs and 33 runs scored.
Taking his place on the roster is 33-year-old middle infielder Matt Weaver, who recently was signed to a minor league contract.
Weaver has not played since the 2039 season, when he was with Rockford.
That year, he hit .216 with five homers, 14 RBIs and 18 runs scored in 67 games/44 starts.

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Record: 66-74, 6th, 7.5 GB Cedar Rapids
For the second consecutive game, Des Moines hit three home runs -- but this time they drove in six, rather than three solo shots -- to power the Harvesters to a 9-3 win over St. Louis at Minute Maid Park.
The victory allowed Des Moines to avoid being swept in the three-game series.
Willie Martinez delivered the first bomb for Des Moines, leading off the bottom of the second with his 22nd long ball of the season, it coming off River Walkers starting pitcher Billy Ables.
Two innings later, Corey Jordan launched one off Ables, his a two-run shot to make it 3-0.
In the fifth, Luis Tejada smacked a three-run tater off Ables as the Harvesters advantage reached 6-0.
Des Moines would add two more runs later in the inning, Zigza Mukuru connecting on a two-run double off Cory Birks, who had just entered the game.
The Harvesters lead eventually reached 9-0 on a Ryan Rivet run-scoring double off Birks in the sixth.
The three St. Louis runs would come in the seventh -- on an RBI single by Adam Stewart -- and ninth -- on a two-run homer by Mark Waterson.
Des Moines starting pitcher Joe Black went five shutout innings. He allowed three hits while striking out six. He didn't walk a batter.
Ryan Watson (1.2 IP) and Josh Ashton (1.1) combined to get the game to the ninth.
Mike Goodman finished things off.

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Record: 66-75, 6th, 7.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Axel Kalman limited St. Louis to one run over the first five innings and four Indianapolis shutout the River Walkers the rest of the way in a 2-1 win at the Astrodome (1995).
Both teams scored single runs in the second inning.
Mark Herman tripled off Kalman for the River Walkers and scored on a wild pitch.
Roberto Hernandez led the bottom of the inning with a homer off St. Louis rookie starter Allan Almon.
The contest's only other run didn't come until the bottom of the seventh.
Brian Newell tripled off Evan Palmer to lead off the inning.
He scored two batters later on a fly ball to left by pinch-hitter John Stacy.
Kalman gave up eight hits over his five innings but just the one run. He struck out three and didn't issue a walk.
After that, it was four pitchers for one inning apiece -- Nick Wilson, Evan Dodd, Aramando Cintron and Ramiro Canales -- to close out the game.
Dodd (1-0) earned his first win of the season.
Canales collected his 33rd save.

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Record: 66-76, 6th, 8.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Down 2-0, Indianapolis scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and five more in the fifth to break the game open as the Racers went on to defeat St. Louis 9-2 at the Astrodome (1995).
Indy managed just one hit over the first three innings against River Walkers starting pitcher Agustin Perdomo.
That changed in the fourth.
Victor Romero singled with one out and two batters later Roberto Hernandez launched a two-run homer to tie it 2-2.
Matt Beagle wasted little time unknotting the score in the bottom of the fifth, hitting a solo homer off Perdomo.
At this point, Perdomo fell apart.
Damiao Orozco tripled and scored on a deep fly ball by pinch-hitter Alvaro Lovato.
Johnny Castagnozzi followed with a single and moved to third on a Brian Gonyon double.
Perdomo struck out Romero for the second out.
After telling the pitching coach he was still good.
Nick Jackson proved him wrong with a three-run homer to make it 7-2.
The Racers added two more runs -- pinch-hitter Danny Ocampo had an RBI single off reliever Antonio Cruiz in the sixth and Brian Newell plated a run with a triple off Cruz in the seventh -- to make the 9-2 final.
Indy starting pitcher Kerry McIntyre went five innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He walked two batters and didn't record a strike out.
Three relievers, Matt Loest (1.0 IP), Stephon Harrison (2.0) and Ben Johnson (1.0), combined to shut out the Walkers the rest of the way.

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Record: 66-77, 6th, 9.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Down 5-1, Indianapolis scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth and three in the ninth to rally for a 6-5 win over St. Louis at the Astrodome (1995).
The Racers ninth-inning outburst came on just one hit with most of it coming against River Walkers closer Tom Floria.
Floria walked three of the inning's first four batters to load the bases.
Then with one out, surrendered a two-run double to Nick Jackson which tied the game.
For Floria, it was his fifth blown save of the season.
Curt Donaldson replaced Floria.
His control was not any better.
He hit Roberto Hernandez with an 0-2 pitch to reload the bases.
That was followed by a walk on a 3-2 pitch to Matt Beagle which brought home Victor Romero with the winning run.
Back-to-back homers from Jose Ramon and Mark Waterson off Indy reliever Chris Conway to open the top of the eighth had given St. Louis its 5-1 lead.
Romero hit a two-run homer off Evan Palmer with two outs in the bottom half to draw the Racers within two runs.
Indy starting pitcher Jose Buenrostro went five innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He struck out three and walked five.
Evan Dodd worked the sixth and got the first out of the seventh.
Armando Cintron finished the seventh inning for the Racers.
Conway allowed the two homers while pitching all of the eighth.
Ben Johnson (2-7) collected the win after holding St. Louis scoreless in the top of the ninth.

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Record: 67-77, 5th, 9.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Kevin Hrdlicka took a shutout into the bottom of the sixth inning -- by which time St. Louis had a 4-0 lead -- and the River Walkers avoided a four-game sweep at the hands of Indianapolis downing the Racers 8-2 at the Astrodome (1995).
A three-run top of the third inning against Indy starter Steve Mahoney staked St. Louis to the lead.
Mark Herman had the big hit with a two-run triple.
He made it 3-0 when he scored on a Nick Shaw double.
Shaw collected a second RBI in the sixth with a lead-off homer off Matt Loest.
The Racers finally got on the board when Victor Romero hit a two-run homer off Hrdlicka in the sixth.
But the Walkers used the long ball to break the game open in the eighth. Mark Waterson hit a pinch-hit homer for the second straight game, this one a three-run shot off Evan Dodd.
Mike Casebolt later hit his first homer since joining St. Louis via trade on July 16.
Stephon Harrison surrendered Casebolt's solo homer.
Hrdlicka (12-8) went six innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He struck out seven and walked one.
Evan Palmer (0.2 IP) and Leo Hermosillo (0.1) combined to pitch a scoreless seventh.
Curt Donaldson and rookie Alex Ramos handled the eighth and ninth, respectively.

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MBL news: Sept. 10 -- Week 24 - Awards and standings

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Record: 68-77, 5th, 9 GB Cedar Rapids
Trailing 6-5, St. Louis scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning runs and went on to defeat Springfield 8-6 at Busch Stadium (2006).
The Railers had taken the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh off River Walkers reliever Juan Munoz.
Beginning with a lead-off walk to pinch-hitter Hideaki Taguchi, five of the first six batters Munoz faced reach base.
That included a double by pinch-hitter Danny Bourdon, which put runners on second and third.
An RBI single by Jorge Goto.
And an error by third baseman Quang Chiang on a ball hit by Billy Salas, which allowed Bourdon to score.
In the bottom of the inning, St. Louis put its first three batters on base against Jason Dexheimer.
It began with back-to-back walks to Manuel Coke and Nick Shaw.
Matt Weaver then delivered a double, scoring Coke to tie the game.
Shaw scored on a deep fly ball to right hit by Jose Ramon, as St. Louis went ahead 7-6.
The Walkers got an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth on a pinch-hit homer by Josh Hurley off Blake Schwartz.
The game was back-and-forth the entire way.
A two-run homer by Salas off Walkers starting pitcher Billy Ables highlighted a three-run first for the Railers.
Coke hit a two-run homer off Jesse Edwards to cap a three-run inning for St. Louis in the third.
Springfield got a run in the top of the sixth -- Vincent Villavicencio with an RBI single off Ables -- only to have the Walkers tally twice -- Mike Casebolt with a run-scoring single off Tomas Vasquez, Casebolt later scored on a wild pitch -- to make it 5-4.
Ables went 5.1 innings, allowing four runs on five hits. He struck out four and walked one.
Leo Hermosillo (0.1 IP) and Alex Ramos (0.1) each recorded an out to get out of the inning.
Juan Munoz got the first out of the seventh before getting into trouble.
Kyle Smarr helped limit the Railers to two runs by getting the final two outs.
Smarr (6-1) would get the win.
Chris Willett pitched a scoreless eighth.
Tom Floria gave up a lead-off double to Taguchi in the ninth but struck out the next three for his 25th save.

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Record: 69-77, 5th, 9 GB Cedar Rapids
Pinch-hitter Quiang Chang connected on a single off Springfield closer Jon Santiago with no outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to score Mike Casebolt and give St. Louis a 5-4 win at Busch Stadium.
The River Walkers entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 4-3, but Santiago failed to retire any of the four batters he faced.
Matt Weaver opened the inning with a single
Jaquez then pinch-ran for Weaver.
Mike Casebolt drew a walk before Mike Vaughn doubled to right-center, scoring Jaquez to tie the game.
Chang then followed with his hit, lining a 2-0 pitch into center to score the game-winning run.
St. Louis got a strong start from rookie Allen Almon, who pitched 5.2 scoreless innings.
He left the game with a 3-0 lead.
Mark Waterson made it 2-0 with a homer off Railers starting pitcher Ruben Ruiz in the bottom of the second.
Casebolt drove in the third Walkers' runs in the fourth with a double off Ruiz.
But Springfield wiped out that lead and even took the lead with a four-run eighth against the St. Louis bullpen.
Curt Donaldson sustained much of the damage allowing three straight runners to reach after opening the inning with a fly out.
Jason Nolan and Billy Salas capped Donaldson's outing with back-to-back doubles to make it 3-2
Kyle Smarr took over and struck out Jose Chavez for the second out before issuing an intentional walk to Hideaki Taguchi.
Pinch-hitter Danny Bourdon spoiled that strategy with a double, scoring two as the Railers moved in front.
Allmon went 5.2 innings, allowing no runs on three hits. He struck out four and walked two.
Evan Palmer got the final out of the sixth and worked a scoreless seventh.
Donaldson (0.1 IP) and Smarr (0.1) got the first two outs of the eighth as Springfield moved in front.
Chris Willett (3-7) earned the win. He finished the eighth and worked a scoreless top of the ninth.

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Record: 69-78, 5th, 10 GB Cedar Rapids
Down 5-3, Springfield exploded for five runs in the top of the ninth inning paving the way for an 8-5 win at Busch Stadium (2006).
The victory allowed the Railers to avert a three-game sweep.
For the second time in his last games, River Walkers closer Tom Floria could not close out a victory.
This time, he allowed all four batters he faced to reach base before being relieved.
A walk to pinch-hitter Vincent Villavicencio opened the inning.
Pinch-hitter Brendan York followed with a single.
Carlton Randall drove in the inning's first run with a double.
Arturo Verdugo then put Springfield in front 6-5 with a two-run single.
Juan Munoz replaced Floria.
He struck out Jorge Goto.
But Billy Salas got to him for a two-run homer to make it 8-5.
It was the second home run of the game for Salas.
He had hit a solo homer off reliever Antonio Cruiz in the eight to make it 4-2.
Taguchi went deep later in the inning, his came off Alex Ramos, to pull Springfield to within 4-3.
St. Louis at one time owned a 4-0 lead.
After the Railers pulled to within 4-3, they made it a two-run game in the bottom of the eighth when Manuel Coke doubled off Mike Maloney to drive in Quiang Chang, who had drawn a lead-off walk.
Railers starting pitcher Marcos Zaragoza went four innings, allowing four runs on five hits. He struck out two and walked one.
Tomas Vasquez followed with two scoreless innings.
Manuel Santiago, Maloney and Jon Santiago all pitched an inning apiece.
Maloney (1-0), despite allowing a run, earned his first win.
Santiago collected his 33rd save.

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Record: 69-79, 5th, 11.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Antonio Ceja shut out St. Louis over the first five innings and the Quad City bullpen did the rest as they combined on a three-hitter in a 7-0 win over the the River Walkers 7-0 at Fenway Park (1976).
Ceja (7-8) allowed just two singles in his time on the mound. He struck out five and walked two.
After that, William Myers and Goro Abe both pitched one inning and Edward Schumaker took care of the final two.
QC jumped on Walkers starter Agustin Perdomo for a pair of runs in the bottom of the first.
Perdomo walked the inning's first two batters before giving up a single to Paul Totten.
Larry Spicer later connected on a one-out single to plate a pair.
The Thunder added another run off Perdomo in the third.
Collin Allen tripled with one out and scored on a Spicer ground out.
An inning later, Jacob Gonzalez led off with a single.
Gonzalez left the game with an injury.
Pinch-runner Jim Waldron later scored on a Tony Nolasco single.
The Thunder's final three runs came in the seventh.
Rookie reliever Alex Ramos gave up three straight singles to load the bases.

Evan Palmer replaced Ramos and gave up a run-scoring single to Kane Gale.
Pinch-hitter Brandon Cain followed with a double to make it 7-0.

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Record: 69-80, 5th, 12.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Trailing 3-2, Quad City scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and went on to defeat St. Louis 5-3 at Fenway Park (1976).
The Thunder had trailed 3-0 going into the bottom of the fifth when they got their first two runs off River Walkers starting pitcher Ming Xiang.
Jim Waldron and Willie Rubio opened the inning with back-to-back singles.
Rubio later scored on a wild pitch. Waldron had been eliminated when Kane Gate hit into a double play.
Danny Morrison scored the second run with a pinch-hit homer.
Xiang was still on the mound to start the seventh but exited after giving up a lead-off double to Rubio.
Leo Hermosillo took over only to give up consecutive singles to pinch-hitters Brandon Cain and Pang Shi.
Shi's singled scored Rubio.
Hermosillo got Tony Nolasco to fly out for the inning's first out before being replaced by Juan Munoz.
Fontana Felitti spanked Munoz's third pitch into the gap in left-center scoring both runners as Q-C took a 5-3 lead.
Thunder starting pitcher Benito Diaz lasted just three innings, allowing two runs on four hits. He struck out four and walked one.
Kevin Vitale and Williams Myers both pitched two innings of scoreless relief.
Myers (8-5) would earn the win.
After that, it was Armando Guadarrama and Jason Gallahue for an inning apiece to close out the game.
Gallahue notched his 12th save.

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Record: 69-81, 5th, 12.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Starting pitcher Sean Gilley pitched four shut-out innings and the Quad City bullpen allowed just one run over the final five as the Thunder completed a three-game sweep of St. Louis with a 4-1 win at Fenway Park (1976).
Gilley allowed three hits -- two singles and a double -- during his time on the mound. He struck out two and walked one.
Despite giving up the lone River Walkers' run in the top of the fifth, it made the score 2-1, Kevin Vitale (5-4) ended up being the pitcher of record for his only inning of work.
Chris David worked a pair of scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh.
For the second game in a row, Armando Guadarrama worked the eighth and Jason Gallahue handled the ninth.
The save was Gallahue's 13th of the season in 13 attempts.
Once again, an inability came back to haunt St. Louis starting pitcher Kevin Hrdlicka, who walked five batters and threw a wild pitch in six innings.
Hrdlicka walked the first two batters -- Fontana Felitti and Paul Totten -- of the fourth inning. He followed that with a wild pitch, which moved them to second and third.
Felitti then scored on the wild pitch.
Collin Allen scored Totten with a single.
It's lead at 2-1 after the Walkers scored in the top of the fifth, the Thunder answered with a run in the bottom of the inning.
For the second time, Hrdlicka issued two straight walks -- to Vitale and Tony Nolasco -- Felitti scored Vitale with a single past the second baseman.
Danny Morrison hit a pinch-hit homer for the second time in as many games as he took rookie Alex Ramos deep to start the seventh.

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MBL news: Sept. 17 -- Week 25 - Awards and standings

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A 9-7 victory over the Des Moines Harvesters made the Rockford Lightning the first team to assure themselves a berth in the Midwest Baseball League postseason.
It also assures the Lightning will get the chance to defend the World Series title they won a year ago.
At 96-53, Rockford easily owns the best record in the MBL.
It leads Chicago by 15 games in the National League North Division and Cedar Rapids by 15 games for the top mark in the NL.
The Lightning will likely have home-field advantage in the World Series, as the top record in the American League belongs to West Division leader Grand Rapids at 90-59.
The postseason berth is the fourth in the history of the Rockford franchise.
It previously won the NL North in 2033, 2036 and 2039.
The Lighting have advanced to the World Series three times (2033, 2036 and 2039), with their lone win coming last season.

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Record: 69-82, 5th, 13.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Led by 4.2 innings from starting pitcher Luis Jimenez, the Los Angeles Turtles limited St. Louis to one run in a 3-1 win at Petco Park.
The loss was the fifth in a row for the River Walkers, who were eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.
St. Louis trails first-place Cedar Rapids by 13.5 games with 11 games remaining in the season.
Jimenez allowed the lone St. Louis run -- the Walkers actually jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Nick Shaw led off with a double and scored on a Quiang Chang single -- and overall gave up three hits.
He struck out four and walked one.
Three relievers, Mike Christie (1.1 IP), Brian Little (1.2) and Jose Patricio (1.1) combined to shut out St. Louis the rest of the way.
Christie (5-0) earned the win.
Patricio picked up his 39th save.
The Turtles got their runs in single servings in the second, third and fifth innings off Walkers rookie starter Allan Almon.
In the second, Mike Pillsbury tied the game when he doubled with one out and scored on an Amari Simpson single.
An inning later, Nick Kline drew a one-out walk and scored on a Gerardo Bernal double.
A walk came around to score again in the fifth.
This time it was Josh Ames who drew a free pass from Almon.
Bernal doubled again to make it 3-1.

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Record: 69-83, 5th, 14.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Los Angeles starting pitcher Yushiro Onishi allowed just one hit and struck out 10 in 6.1 shut-out innings to help lead the Turtles to a 6-2 win over St. Louis at Petco Park.
The only hit Onishi (5-13) allowed was a third-inning single to River Walkers pitcher Juan Farias.
In addition to the 20 strike outs, Onishi issued just one walk.
Onishi also played a part in the Turtles taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third combining with Eric Langley to hit the second of back-to-back doubles off Farias to earn an RBI.
Two innings later, L.A. broke the game open with four runs.
Onishi drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly after the Turtles had loaded the bases on two singles and an error by third baseman Rich Dodson to start the inning.
Farias then walked Josh Ames to reload the bases.
Nick Kline drove in the inning's second run with a single.
Farias then issued consecutive bases-loaded walks to Josh Shuler and Gerardo Bernal to make it 6-0.
St. Louis got its two runs in the top of the eighth on a two-run homer by rookie Josh Hurley off reliever Ben Johnston.
Johnston had finished off the seventh for Onishi then worked all of the eighth.
The ninth was divided between Travis Bradshaw (0.2 IP) and Jorge Aristizabal (0.1).
Bradshaw left the game with an undisclosed injury.

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Record: 68-84, 5th, 15.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Down 2-1, Bobby Scheid hit a three-run home run off St. Louis starting pitcher Agustin Perdomo with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning to lift Los Angeles to a 4-3 win at Petco Park.
The win gave the Turtles a sweep of the three-game series. It also extended the River Walkers' losing streak to seven games.
St. Louis had gone up 2-1 in the top of the fourth when Nick Shaw scored on an error by L.A. shortstop Eric Langley on a ball hit by Adam Stewart.
Josh Ames got things going for the Turtles in the bottom of the fifth with a lead-off single.
Nick Kline followed with a double.
After Perdomo got Josh Shuler to fly out.
Scheid jumped on the first pitch he saw and drove it 382 feet over the right-field wall for his 17th home run of the season.
Turtles starting pitcher Elijah Cue went just 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on two hits. He struck out two and walked two.
Elliott Rice (2-1) earned the win. He finished the fourth inning and also pitched the next two.
Miguel Castillo worked two full innings, getting the game to the ninth.
Jose Patricio earned his 40th save.

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A 5-4 victory over Springfield allowed the Grand Rapids Traders to clinch their second straight American League South Division championship.
The Traders, who sit at 91-61, own an 11-game lead over Detroit with 10 games left in the season.
Grand Rapids is tied with AL East Division leader Columbus for the best record in the league.
The best overall mark belongs to NL North champion Rockford. The Lightning are 97-56 on the season.
It is the seventh division title for Grand Rapids.
The Traders reached the World Series in 2033 and 2034, winning it all both years.