2028 St. Louis River Walkers: Starting our second decade

[rink23]

Walkers news: Team statistics for May 2028

[rink23]

Player of the Month: 1B Cris Rosario -- The 26-year-old batted .290 with 14 homers and 31 RBIs in 27 games. He also scored 20 runs while getting on base at a .345 clip and slugging .738. He also was named National League Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month.
Starting Pitcher of the Month: RHP Angel Tiburcio -- The 27-year-old went 4-0 in five starts with a 2.16 ERA. He worked a total of 33.1 innings, during which he struck out 40 and hand a 0.60 WHIP.
Relief Pitcher of the Month: RHP Travis Krogman -- The 28-year-old got into 12 games during which he went 2-0 and recorded two saves and posted a 1.20 ERA. He pitched 15 innings during which he struck out 18 and had a 0.87 WHIP.

[rink23]

Walkers news: Team individual statistics on June 1, 2028

[rink23]

Walkers news: Players DeveloPment Report for June 1

[rink23]

Record: 39-23, 1st, 3.5 GA Des Moines
Adonis Medina allowed one run over six innings and St. Louis downed Springfield 5-2 at Oracle Park (2020).
After two straight rough outings, Medina limited the Prairie Fighters to one run -- a solo homer from Alex Otero in the bottom of the fifth -- on three hits. He struck out six and walked none.
The River Walkers were already up 3-0 by the time Springfield scored.

Jared Thomas hit a solo homer off Fighters starter Pedro Lopez in the second inning.
Rookie Cris Rosario picked up his 59th RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly in the fourth. An error by Springfield third baseman Nolan Jones led to Thomas reaching base later in the inning.
He scored on a Jean Carmona single.
St. Louis' other two runs came in the seventh when Alek Thomas singled and later scored on a Justin Jarvis wild pitch.
Jared Thomas made it 5-1 when he drove in Vidal Brujan with a fly ball.
Ricky Cisneros, Luis Angel Medina and Jose Alvarado all pitched an inning after Medina exitied.
Medina gave up a run in the eighth.
Alvarado earned his fourth save.

[rink23]

Record: 40-23, 1st, 3.5 GA Des Moines
Angel Tiburcio took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and a shutout into the ninth before exiting as St. Louis downed Springfield 7-2 at Oracle Park (2000).
The River Walkers already led by the time the Prairie Fighters got their first hit -- a two-out single from Alex Otero in the bottom of the seventh.
Going into the ninth with 90 pitches, Tiburcio just seemed to run out of gas.
He allowed one-out singles to Lucius Fox and Riley Greene, before Mathew Lugo doubled to score two and finally break up the shutout.
Zac Lowther replaced Tiburcio and retired the next two batters to end it.
In his 8.1 innings, Tiburcio allowed the two runs on four hits. He struck out 14 and walked nary a batter.
The Walkers went up 2-0 almost right away when Andrew Benintendi hit a two-run homer off Prairie Fighters starting pitcher Jared Kelley.
St. Louis added its next two runs in the fifth.
Alek Thomas drove in the first run with a double. Ozzie Albes then scored Thomas when he tripled.
A three-run homer from Vidal Brujan off reliever Andrew Perez in the seventh bumped the lead to 7-0.

[rink23]

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

[rink23]

Record: 40-24, 1st, 3.5 GA Des Moines
Springfield pounded St. Louis starting pitcher Brendan McKay for six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to turn a 3-2 game into a blowout, as the Prairie Fighters went on for an 11-3 win at Oracle Park (2020).
The victory allowed Springfield to salvage the finale of the three-game series after dropping the first two.
Matthew Lugo hit the first of his two homers in the game in the bottom of the first to put the Fighters up 1-0.
Springfield added two more run in the second -- Jake Rogers had an RBI single and Riley Greene plated one with a sacrifice fly -- to go up 3-0.
The River Walkers scored a pair in the top of the third off Springfield starter Raul Ahmuada.
But the Fighters broke McKay's back in the fourth.
Most of it happened with two outs -- and it should have been three as an error by Walkers third baseman Vidal Brujan set things in motion -- as Lugo drove in a pair with a single before Ruben Villanueva provided the huge blow with a two-out grand slam.
Ahmuada (6-5) allowed two runs on six hits in five innings. He struck out two and walked the same.
Justin Jarvis and Kyle Barraclough worked two innings apiece to close out the victory.

[rink23]

MBL news: Week 10 Awards and standings

[rink23]

Record: 40-25, 1st, 3.5 GA Des Moines
Jake Holland homered for the game's lone run and Miguel Cisneros combined and a pair of relievers combined on a shutout, as Rockford downed St. Louis 1-0 at RFK Stadium (2005).
Holland supplied the only run of the contest in the bottom of the fourth with a lead-off homer off River Walkers starting pitcher Kaneo Kawamoto.
Cisneros, meanwhile, scattered four hits over six shutout innings. He struck out three and walked one.
Rick Sessions worked a scoreless seventh inning.
Noah Cutrona handled both the eighth and ninth for his third save.

[rink23]

Record: 40-26, 1st, 3.5 GA Des Moines
Yeo-San Park allowed one run over 6.1 innings and the Rockford bullpen didn't allow a run the rest of the way, as Rockford downed St. Louis 4-1 at RFK Stadium (2005).
Park (5-4) scattered three hits in his time on the mound, and the lone run he surrendered came on a home run by Cris Rosario in the seventh inning by which time the Thunder led 3-1.
Park struck out six and walked none.
Durbin Feltman finished the seventh inning.

Konnor Pilkington and Ricky Sessions worked an inning apiece, with Sessions earning his second save.
Jose Ramirez hit a solo homer off River Walkers starting pitcher Tanner Bibee in the first to give Rockford an early lead.
The Thunder added two more runs in the fourth.
Trevor Larnach hit a run-scoring double off Bibee, while Jaden Agassi plated the second run with a single.
After Rosario's homer in the top of the seventh, the Thunder got that run back in the bottom half.
Agassi singled with one out Walkers reliever Luis Angel Medina.
He scored when pinch-hitter Mike Courtney doubled off Ricky Cisneros.

[rink23]

Record: 41-26, 1st, 3.5 GA Des Moines
Adonis Medina allowed one run over seven innings and St. Louis avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of Rockford with a 4-1 win at RFK Stadium (1995).
The lone run Medina allowed came in the bottom of the fifth when Drew Mendoza led off with a double and later scored on a wild pitch.
By that time, however, the River Walkers led 4-0.
In his seven innings, Medina (7-5) allowed just the one run on two hits. He struck out three and walked none.
Cory Tiller got the first two outs of the eighth inning.
Jose Alvarado finished the eighth and worked a silent ninth for his fifth save.
A pair of two-run innings accounted for the Walkers scoring.
In the fourth, Cris Rosario singled with two outs.
Thunder starting pitcher then walked Andrew Benintendi and Jean Carmona to load the bases.
Thairo Estrada chased Rosario and Benintendi home with a single.
An inning later, Jared Thomas hit a two-run homer off Jaden Foster to make it 4-0.

[rink23]

Record: 41-27, 1st, 2.5 GA Des Moines
Kevin Vargas hit a two-run homer off St. Louis reliever Jose Alvarado with two outs in the top of the ninth inning to help Dayton claim a 3-1 win at Busch Stadium (1997).
Tied 1-1, Phillip Clarke had led off the ninth with a single before Alvarado retired the next two.
But on a 2-0 pitch, Vargas connected lining the ball some 369 feet over the wall in left field to put the Fighter Pilots in front.
Dayton starting pitcher Sixto Sanchez allowed a single run -- a Vidal Brujan solo homer in the bottom of the sixth which tied it 1-1 -- in 5.2 innings on the mound.
He allowed just three hits.
Five relievers followed him to the mound -- Bryan Sharpe (0.1 IP), Tanner Dodson (0.2), Jarod Bennett (0.1), Justin O'Rourke (1.0) and Jason Gildea (1.0) -- with O'Rourke (2-1) notching the win, and Gildea his eighth save.
A Luis Alexander Basabe homer off Walkers starter Angel Tiburcio in the fifth inning had put Dayton up 1-0.

[rink23]

Record: 42-27, 1st, 2.5 GA Des Moines
Jean Carmona hit a three-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the 12th to complete a five-run inning as St. Louis downed Dayton 11-9 at Busch Stadium (1997).
The Fighter Pilots' Kevin Vargas had hit a two-out, three-run homer in the top of the 12th off River Walkers reliever Travis Krogman to put his team in front 9-6.
But it didn't hold up.
Andrew Benintendi got things rolling with a one-out walk from Dayton's Justin O'Rourke, and Thairo Estrada followed with a double.
Carlos Vidal scored Bentendi with a single.
And Estrada crossed the plate when Vidal Brujan hit into a fielder's choice.
Alek Thomas kept things going with a single.
And facing a 1-2 count, Carmona ended it crushing a pitch that traveled 443 feet over the wall in right-center.
St. Louis seemed set to win the game in regulation, only to have closer Jake Brentz cough up a 5-3.
Brentz entered in the eighth, with runners at first and second, and gave up a RBI single to Caiden Matheny to make it 5-4.
An inning later, Brentz allowed three singles in a span of five batters.
A Shane Shifflett single tied it, and a double from Ben Breazeale put the Pilots in front 6-5.
The Walkers, however, were able to force extra inning when Cris Rosario hit a solo homer off Jason GIldea.
Walkers starting pitcher Brendan McKay allowed five of the first six Dayton hitters to reach base, as the Fighter Pilots led 3-0 after a half inning.
St. Louis not only rallied to tie it, but took the lead with three runs in the top of the seventh.
Two of the runs scored on bases-loaded walks.
McKay pitched well after the rough start.
He went seven innings, allowing the three runs on six hits.
Ernesto Barbosa got the first out of the eighth, before Brentz took the mound and botched everything.
Zac Lowther (1.1 IP), Luis Angel Medina (1.1) and Krogman (0.2) finished the game.
Krogman (3-1) came out of it with the win.

[rink23]

Record: 42-28, 1st, 1.5 GA Des Moines
Ariel Vega didn't allow a run in his 5.2 innings on the mound, and hit a two-run homer, to help lead Dayton to a 3-0 win over St. Louis at Busch Stadium (1997).
Vega (3-4) scattered six hits in his 5.2 innings. He struck out four and didn't issue a walk.
Luiz Gohara finished the sixth inning and worked a scoreless seventh.
Antonio Santillian took care of the eighth and the ninth belonged to Bryan Sharpe, who notched his first save.
All three of the Fighter Pilots' runs came in the top of the fifth off St. Louis starter Kaneo Kawamoto.
A one-out double from Trevor Hauver set things moving.
A Joe Allen single moved Hauver to third and he scored when Kawamoto uncorked a wild pitch.
Three pitches later, Vega belted a 2-1 Kawamoto pitch 387 feet over the wall in left field to put Dayton up 3-0.

[rink23]

MBL news: June 11 -- All-Star game fan voting update

[rink23]

Record: 43-28, 1st, 2.5 GA Des Moines
Carlos Vidal smacked a two-run home run off Dayton relief pitcher Jason Gildea with no outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to give St. Louis a 5-4 win at Busch Stadium (1997).
The victory allowed the River Walkers to split their four-game series against the Fighter Pilots.
St. Louis entered the bottom of the ninth trailing 5-3, but Gildea failed to retire any of the three batters he faced.
Jared Thomas opened the inning with a solo homer.
Jean Carmona followed with a double, and on a 3-2 pitch Vidal won it with a 393-foot drive over the wall in right field.
Tied 1-1, the Pilots had gone up 3-1 in the top of the third.
Pitcher Lenny Torres led off by drawing a walk from Walkers starter Tanner Bibee.
He moved to third on a Shane Shiffflett single and scored when Luis Alexader Basabe hit into a fielder's coice.
Cody Bellinger later scored Basabe with a two-out double.
Vidal doubled and scored in the third to make it 3-2.
But Dayton got that run back in the eighth when Pete Crow-Armstrong homered off Ricky Cisneros.
Bibee pitched six innings, allowing three runs on five hits.
Cisneros allowed the one run in two innings.
Cory Tiller (2-0) took care of the ninth and earned his second win of the season after the rally in the bottom of the inning.

[rink23]

MBL news: Week 11 Awards and standings

[rink23]

Record: 43-29, 1st, 1.5 GA Des Moines
A day after winning on a walk-off homer, St. Louis lost in similar fashion as a double from James Gamble capped a three-run bottom of the ninth inning for Cedar Rapids which downed the River Walkers 6-5 at Connie Mack Stadium (1960).
St. Louis entered the bottom of the ninth with a 5-3 lead, but closer Jake Brentz blew his third save in as many appearances.
The left-hander retired the lead-off hitter before issuing a walk to RJ Teijeiro.
He struck out Jose Leyva for the second out, but Mark Vientos crushed a 1-0 pitch over the left-field wall to tie it at 5-5.
Lewis Brinson then drew the second walk of the inning, leading to Brentz's exit.
Luis Angel Medina took over and James Gamble doubled down the left-field line on a 1-2 pitch to win it.
Tied 2-2, the Walkers had gone up by a run in the top of the fourth when Cris Rosario hit his 25th homer of the season off Golden Grapplers starter Cole Wilcox to lead off the fourth.
Three innings later, Steve Ruland also hit a lead-off homer, his coming off Mario Galvez, to make it 4-2.
Joel Pal had led off the bottom of the seventh for Cedar Rapids with a double off St. Louis reliever Travis Krogman.
Pal scored when Matt McLain followed with a single.
An RBI double from Vidal Brujan in the top of the ninth off Dave Schaeffer had given St. Louis its 5-3 lead.
Wilcox lasted four innings, allowing three runs on six hits.
Brault pitched two scoreless innings.
Galvez also worked two, allowing the Ruland long ball.
Schaeffer (1-2) surrendered that run in the ninth, but still came out of it with the victory.

[rink23]

Record: 43-30, 1st, 0.5 GA Des Moines
Cedar Rapids pounded St. Louis starting pitcher Angel Tibrucio for five runs over the first three innings en route to handing him his first loss of the season, as the Golden Grapplers won 5-1 at Connie Mack Stadium (1960).
Things were rough from the get-go for Tiburico (7-1), Joel Pal led the game off with a double and scored when Noah Naylor followed with a single.
A pair of wild pitches later helped Naylor score and make it 2-0.
The second inning, Tiburcio served up a two-run homer to Jake McCarthy as the Grapplers lead grew to 4-0.
Naylor drew a walk to lead-off the third and later second on a two-out single from Terrin Vavra as now Cedar Rapids led 5-0.
The lone River Walkers run came in the sixth when Vidal Brujan and Ozzie Albies connected on consecutive two-out doubles off reliever Rick Atkinson.
Grapplers starter Jose LeClerc worked just four innings but they were scoreless. He allowed one hit while striking out five and walking one.
Atkinson (2-5), despite allowing the lone St. Louis run, earned the win by pitching 1.2 innings.
Mario Galvez finished off the sixth for the Grapplers.
A trio of pitchers -- Evan Palmer, Evan Steele and Maurcio Cabrera -- wrapped things up with a scoreless inning each.