2024 St. Louis River Walkers -- Why can't this thing be fixed?

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Record: 13-15, 4th, 4.5 GB Cedar Rapids
Alek Thomas singled with two outs in the top of the ninth inning off Des Moines reliever Bryan Garcia to score Romy Gonzalez with the winning run in what turned out to be a 5-4 win over the Harvesters at LaBatt Park.
With the win, the River Walkers took two of three games from Des Moines.
In that top of the ninth, Romy Gonzalez drew a lead-off walk from reliever Rory Stevens.
Javier Baez then singled with two outs, moving Gonzalez to second.
Garcia replaced Stevens on the mound, and his 2-2 pitch to Thomas was lined into left field for a single and scored Gonzalez.
A back and forth game.
Des Moines took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Cody Bellinger knocked a one-out single off St. Louis starter Steven Brault.
The Walkers took a 2-1 lead in the fifth.
Thomas with an RBI single off Des Moines starter Nick Pivetta to tie it.
Bo Bichette than put the Walkers up with another single.
Des Moines answered right back by scoring three times in the bottom of the fifth.
It wasn't pretty one run scored on a hit by pitch and another on an error by third baseman Romy Gonzalez.
Thairo Estrada drove home the inning's first run with an RBI single off Brault.
St. Louis tied it in the eighth on a two-run homer by Rhys Hoskins off Stevens.
Brault pitched six innings, giving up four runs on four hits.
Phil Maton and Jake Brentz combined on a scoreless seventh inning.
Kenley Jansen (2-0) did the same in the eighth and came away with the win.
Edwin Diaz earned his second save in as many nights, his fourth of the season.

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Record: 14-15, 3rd (Tied/w. Springfield), 3 GB Cedar Rapids
Down 3-2, St. Louis scored twice in the top of the ninth inning to help give the River Walkers a 4-3 win over Fort Worth at Ebbets Field (1948).
Edmond Americaan led off the inning with a singe off Mad Men reliever Michael Feliz.
After a strike out, Feliz walked Jared Thomas and Christian Arroyo singled to load the bases.
Jimmie Sherfy took the ball for the Men and promptly surrendered a two-run single to Alek Thomas which put the Walkers ahead for good.
Before that, all the scoring had occurred in the third inning.
St. Louis struck first, Bo Bichette landing a two-run homer off Fort Worth starting pitcher Chandler Champlain.
In the bottom half of the third, Yandy Diaz led off with a double before moving to third on a sacrifice bunt.
Nola walked two batters to load the bases before uncorking a wild pitch to make it 2-1.
Ian Happ followed with a double, scoring two, as the Men suddenly owned a 3-2 lead.
Nola worked six innings, giving up three runs on five hits. He struck out five and walked two.
Four relievers combined to close out the win , Curtiss (0.1 IP), Nick Lodolo (1.0), Kenley Jansen (0.2) and Edwin Diaz (1.0), with Jansen (3-0) earning the win.
Day collected his fifth save.

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Record: 14-16, 3rd (Tied/w. Springfield), 3 GB Cedar Rapids
Pinch-hitter Jose Augusto Rodriguez bases-loaded single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning off St. Louis reliever Nick Lodolo drove him Joe McCarthy with the winning run and gave Fort Worth a 3-2 at Ebbets Field (1948).
River Walkers reliever Kenley Jansen walked Joe McCarthy to open the ninth and Keston Huira followed with a double to put runners at second and third.
Wilson Contreras was walked to load the bases, but reliever Kenley Jansen struck out the next two to bring Dave Crooks to the plate.
St. Louis responded by bringing Lodolo in the game, only to have the Mad Men substitute Rodrguez as a pinch-hitter.
A Contreras solo homer off Walkers starter Alex Faedo in the third inning put Fort Worth up 1-0.
Crooks led off the fourth with a single, stole second and scored on a Ha-seong Kim double to make it 2-0.
St. Louis tied it in the top of the eighth.
The first run scored when Eric Warren issued a bases-loaded walk to J.T. Realmuto.
Larry Ernesto later singled off Jared Miller to even it at 2-2.
Men starter Yency Almonte didn't allow a run in his 5.1 innings on the mound. He allowed five hits while striking out three and walking one.
Tommy Kahnle completed the seventh inning for Fort Worth.
Warren and Miller combined on the eighth.
Michael Feliz allowed St. Louis to load the bases in the ninth but struck out Andrew Benintendi, who was ejected for arguing the called third strick, and Realmuto to keep it tied.
The Walkers loaded the bases in each of the final three innings, but only came away with the two runs it scored in the eighth.

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Record: 14-16, 3rd (Tied/w. Quad City and Springfield), 3 GB Cedar Rapids
Fort Wayne jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and never trailed en route to a 4-2 win over St. Louis at Ebbets Field (1948).
With the victory, the Mad Men took the final two games of their three-game series with the River Walkers.
Ian Happ drove in a run with a single and Ha-Seong Kim knocked an RBI double off Walkers starter Argenis Batista to help stake the Men to their early 2-0 lead.
Bo Bichette drove in Batista with a sacrifice fly in the fifth off Fort Wayne starter Masahiro Tanaka to make it 2-1.
The Men got that run back in the fifth after pinch-hitter Jose Augusto Rodriguez led off with a double off Batista and later scored on a Dave Crooks ground out.
St. Louis pulled back to within 3-2 in the eighth, Romy Gonzalez scoring on a throwing error by Fort Wayne right fielder Darlin Guzman following a single by Alek Thomas.
That was as close as the Walkers would get.
The Men got an insurance run in the eighth, when reliever Eric Warren doubled off Thad Ward to score Keston Huira.
Tanaka (3-3) lasted five innings, giving up one run on seven hits.
He was followed to the mound by five relievers (Jason Foley (1.0 IP), Corey Knebel (0.1), Jimmie Sherfy (0.2), Warren (1.0) and Tommy Kahnle (1.0)) with Kahnle earning his second save of the season.

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MBL news: Week 6 -- Awards and standings

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Record: 15-17, 3rd (Tied/w. Springfield), 3 GB Des Moines
Andrew Benintendi led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a double and scored on a Jean Carmona sacrifice fly to help give St. Louis a 3-2 win over Columbus at Busch Stadium (1997).
J.T. Ginn allowed Beninetendi's triple and also was on the mound for Caromona's game-winning sacrifice fly.
Down 2-1, the River Walkers tied it in bottom of the fourth after Michael Toglia led off the inning with a single and scored on a two-out single by Romy Gonzalez off Golden Bears starting pitcher David Peterson.
St. Louis got another strong start from Jimmy Lambert, who allowed two runs on five hits in his six inning on the mound.
The Walkers used five relievers -- John Curtiss (0.2 IP), Nick Lodolo (0.2), Phil Maton (0.2), Jake Brentz (0.1) and Edwin Diaz (1.0) -- to close it out.
Lodolo (1-1) earned the win. Diaz collected his sixth save.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have announced the hiring of veteran Clint Hurdle as their bench coach. He replaces Gary Thurman who was let go after a little over a season with the team.
The Walkers went 86-76 in his first season as the team's bench coach and was around as the team went 15-17 to start the 2024 season.
The team was looking for more of a veteran presence in the bench coach role and Hurdle's long tenure as a manager and bench coach fills the bill.
It will be the second time Hurdle as served as bench coach for the Walkers, having filled the roll during the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

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Record: 15-18, 4th, GB Des Moines
Clayton Kershaw allowed one run over six innings and Nolan Gorman put Columbus in command with a three-run homer off St. Louis starting pitcer Steven Brault in the third inning to pave the way for an 8-1 win at Busch Stadium (1997).
Gorman hit a 1-2 pitch from Brault 385 feet over the left-field wall to give the Golden Bears a 3-0 lead.
Columbus added another run in the fourth.

Andrelton Simmons led off with a single off Brault and scored on an Ozzie Albies single.
An Alek Thomas solo homer in the sixth would be the only run the Bears would allow and it was given up by Kershaw.
In six innings, Kershaw allowed three hits while striking out four and walking one.
A four-run seventh against the St.Louis bullpen turned it into a blowout.
Paul Goldschmidt had a two-run single off reliever Brad Hand.
Nolan Gorman had an RBI single.

A bases-loaded walk to David Dahl completed the scoring.
Ryan Rolison posted scoreless seventh and eighth innings for the Bears.
Matt Milburn took care of the ninth.

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Record: 15-19, 3rd (Tied/w. Quad City), 3 GB Des Moines
David Dahl singled and scored in the eighth inning to snap a 1-1 tie and help give Columbus a 2-1 victory at Busch Stadium (1997).
The win gave the Golden Bears the final two games of the three-game series.
Dahl's single came with one out off River Walkers reliever Jake Brentz.
Dahl stole second and reached third on a throwing error by catcher J.T. Realmuto.
A sacrifice fly by Bryce Harper chased Dahl across the plate with the winning run.
Realmuto led off the bottom of the ninth with a double off Columbus closer Dan Jennings.
Bo Bichette replaced Realmuto as a pinch runner.
Bichette reached third on a ground out by Rhys Hoskins.
But he remained there as Jennings struck out Michael Toglia and got Romy Gonzalez to fly out to end it.
The save was the eighth of the season for Jennings.
Columbus starter Ranger Suarez turned in an impressive six innings, allowing just one run on four hits.He struck out three and walked none.
J.T. Ginn and Blake Snell both worked a scoreless inning apiece to get the game to Jennins.
Ginn (1-3) earned his first win of the season.
Paul Goldschmidt drove in Ozzie Albies with a first-inning single off St. Louis starter Aaron Nola, giving the Bears a 1-0 lead.
The Walkers tied it in the fifth on a RBI single from Toglia.

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Record: 15-20, 5th, 3 GB Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Springfield
Sean Harp tossed 6.2 scoreless innings and combined with three relievers as Cedar Rapids shutout St. Louis 2-0 at Shibe Park (1949).
Harp (4-2) scattered seven hits during his time on the mound. He struck out eight and walked two.
Zach Schelleberger finished the seventh inning.
David Cullison and Danny Grigg worked an inning apiece to close it out.
The save was the eighth of the season for Grigg.
Lead-off hitter Matt McLain scored both of the Golden Grapplers' runs.
In the sixth, he led off with a double off River Walkers starting pitcher and scored on a Domingo Santana sacrifice fly.
Two innings later, McLain drew a lead-off walk from reliever Brad Hand.
He stole both second and third and scored on a Dominic Smith sacrifice fly.

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Record: 15-21, 5th, 4 GB Cedar Rapids and Springfield
Victor Robles singled in the 10th inning off St. Louis reliever Thad Ward to drive in Trevor Story with the game-winning run as Cedar Rapids downed St. Louis 3-2 at Shibe Park (1949).
Ward failed to retire any of the three batters he faced.
He walked Story to open the inning before allowing a single to Matt McLain, which moved Story to third.
This brought Robles to the plate.
The loss was the fourth in a row for the River Walkers and sixth in their last seven games.
The Golden Grapplers rallied from a 3-1 deficit tying it with a run in the bottom of the ninth against St. Louis closer Edwin Diaz, who blew his second save of the season.
In the ninth, Domingo Santana reached on a one-out single.
He moved to third on a two-out single by Alex Bregman and scored when Jacob Pearson followed with another single.
A three-run third had seemingly put St. Louis into command.

Romy Gonzalez drove in two of the runs with a bases-loaded double.
However, the third runner, Rhys Hoskins, was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
Bret Netzer's pinch-hit homer off River Walkers starting Argenis Batista in the sixth had made it 3-2.
Golden Grapplers starter Rick Atkinson allowed three runs on three hits over the first six innings.
Durbin Feltman, Tyler Bashlor and Zach Schellenger all pitched an inning apiece.
Danny Grigg got the first out of the 10th. Wilman Madera (1-2) took the care of the final two to earn the win.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have announced the trade of infielder Javier Baez and minor league first baseman Jose Torres and Fleury Nova to the Columbus Golden Bears for AAA outfielder Kevin Collard.
The 31-year-old Baez had been whining about his lack of playing time and not producing, so he was sent packing.
In 22 games with the Walkers, Baez had batted .143 with no homers and no RBIs.
Neither the 22-year-old Torres and 23-year-old, who were both scheduled to play in Class A, had seen any game action in 2024.
In Collard, the Walkers received a 27-year-old outfielder who had batted .410 with seven homers and 20 RBIs in 16 games for AAA Scranton this season.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have called up infielder Juan Gil from Memphis to fill the roster spot left available following the trade of Javier Baez.
The 24-year-old Gil has batted .309 with two homers and eight RBIs in 30 games for the Redbirds this season.
A switch-hitter played in 42 games for St. Louis in 2023, hitting .243 with seven RBIs.

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Record: 16-21, 5th, 4 GB Springfield
St. Louis exploded for seven runs in the top of the 14th inning to carry the River Walkers to an 11-6 win over Cedar Rapids at Shibe Park (1949).
With the victory, the River Walkers salvaged the final game of the three-game series and put the end to a four-game losing streak.
St. Louis put eight consecutive batters on base against Golden Grapplers closer Danny Grigg to open the 14th.
Bo Bichette drove in the inning's first run with a double and pinch-hitter Steven Brault took care of the second with a single.
Michael Toglia made it 7-4 with an RBI single, and left the bases loaded for Remy Gonzalez who cleared them with his second home run of the game, this one a grand slam.
Cedar Rapids did manage a pair of runs in the bottom of the 14th off reliever Phil Maton, but it never did threaten to tie the game.
Down 4-2, the Walkers had forced extra innings with a pair of runs in the top of the ninth.
Gonzalez handled the first run by leading off the inning with a homer off reliever Wilman Madera.
Larry Ernesto scored the other run after he singled with two outs.
He went to second when Alek Thomas drew a walk.
Bo Bichette would tie it with a single.
St. Louis got another strong start from Jimmy Lambert, who allowed two runs on six hits over six innings.
Seven relievers followed Lambert to the mound -- John Curtiss (1.0 IP), Nick Lodolo (0.2), Thad Ward (0.1), Kenley Jansen (1.1), Jake Brentz (2.2), Edwin Diaz (1.0) and Phil Maton (1.0) -- with Diaz (1-0) earning his first win of the season.

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MBL news: Week 7: Awards and standings

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Record: 17-21, 5th, 4 GB Springfield
Tied 1-1, Jean Carmona hit a three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning off Quad City reliever Davison Gonzalez to help give St. Louis a 4-1 win at Fenway Park (1970).
Bo Bichette drew a lead-off walk from Gonzalez to open the ninth.
Andrew Benintendi then reached on an error by Thunder first baseman Randolph Thorne.
After a pair of flyouts, Carmona hit his first home run of the season a 328 drive on a 2-2 pitch from Gonzalez which went over the wall in right field.
An RBI double from Carmona off Quad City starting pitcher Daniel Ritcheson had given St. Louis a 1-0 lead in the second.
The Thunder tied it in the sixth against River Walkers starter Steven Brault.
Niko Declati opened the inning by reaching on an error by Christian Arroya.

He scored on a two-out double by Ka'ai Tom.
Brault was solid, allowing one run on six hits in 6.1 innings.
John Curtiss (1-1) finished the seventh and worked a scoreless eighth and also earned the win.
Brad Hand handled a scoreless ninth for his third save.

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Record: 17-22, 5th, 4.5 GB Springfeld
Andrew Bethea drove the second pitch he saw from St. Louis reliever Edwin Diaz 443 feet over the fence in right-cener field to give Quad City a 4-2 win at Fenway Park (1970).
Duke Kinamon had opened the bottom of the 10th with a single off reliever Kenley Jansen.
Bethea followed with his big drive, his first homer of the season.
Both teams had scored single runs in the second and third innings, and it remained tied until the 10th.
Thunder starting pitcher Evan Steele allowed two runs on three hits over four innings.
Chad Kuhl worked two shutout innings before Brenan Hanifee, Justus Sheffield and Nick Goody all worked a quiet inning apice.
Goody improved to 3-0 by earning the win.

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Record: 17-23, 5th, 4 GB Des Moines
Although it was forced to make a bullpen start, Quad City was still able to keep the punchless St. Louis offense quiet as the Thunder downed the River Walkers 3-0 at Fenway Park (1970).
St. Louis has gone 5-8 in May and 9-20 since starting the season 8-3.
No reason was given why scheduled Thunder starter Brent Honey well did not take the mound.
But Chad Kuhl took the ball when the game started and worked a scoreless 1.1 innings to get things going.
He would be followed by P.J. Conlon (4.0 IP), Davison Gonzalez (0.2), Brenan Hanifee (1.0), Nick Wood (1.0) and Nick Goody (1.0).
Conlon (1-0) earned the win. Goody collected his ninth save.
Quad City got the only run it would need in the fourth inning on a Thomas Dillard off Walkers starting pitcher Alex Faedo.
A two-run shot from Blake Rutherford off Nick Lodolo in the ninth added some insurance.

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Record: 17-24, 5th, 4.5 GB Cedar Rapids and Springfield
Down 2-1, Quad City scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and went on for a 5-2 win over St. Louis at Fenway Park (1970).
With the win, the Thunder took the final game of the four-game series with the slumping River Walkers.
Larry Ernesto staked St. Louis to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning with a home run off Thunder starting pitcher Izzy San Juan.
Quad City got its first run in the fourth, Blake Rutherford with a lead-off triple off Walkers starting Argenis Batista and scoring on a Randolph Thomas sacrifice fly.
The Thunder then took control in the seventh.
Batista allowed the first two batters to reach on an error by shortstop Christian Arroyo and a walk.
John Curtiss then took the mound and gave up a game-tying double to Carter Kieboom.
An intentional walk was then issued to the No. 8 hitter Mike Moustakas.
But pitcher Justus Sheffield spoiled that plan with an RBI single to put Q-C in front.
After a strike out, left-hander Jake Brentz took the mound to face lefty hitter Blake Rutherford,
It didn't turn out well as Rutherford doubled to make it 5-2.
San Juan worked five innings, allowing two runs on six hits.
Davison Gonzalez handled the sixth and got the first out of the seventh.
Sheffield (1-1) went the rest of the way and earned his first win of the season.

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Record: 18-24, 5th, 4.5 GB Springfield
St. Louis exploded for four runs in the top of the 10th inning to help give it a 7-4 win over Green Bay at War Memorial Stadium (Buffalo).
All of the action came with two outs.
Ryan Zeferjahn retired the first two batters before allowing a single to Michael Toglia and walking Rhys Hoskins.
Luis Angel Medina replaced Zeferjahn and was greeted by an RBI single from Jared Thomas.
Larry Ernesto followed with the big blow, a three-run double to make it 7-3.
River Walkers reliever Thad Ward gave up a lead-off homer to Madison Stokes, who homered twice in the contest, in the bottom of the 10th, but was able to limit the damage from there.
Solo homers from pitcher Jimmy Lambert and Jean Carmona helped the Walkers grab a 3-0 lead after the top of the fifth.
Green Bay rallied to tie it, scoring once in the fifth to make it 3-1.
The Long Haulers tied it in the seventh on a two-run homer from Stokes off reliever Nick Lodolo.
Lambert turned in another strong outing allowing one run on three hits over six innings.
Lodolo pitched the seventh, when Green Bay tied it.
Phil Maton handled the eighth. The ninth belonged to Kenley Jansen (0.2 IP) and Brad Hand (0.1).
Hand (3-0) earned the win.