2022 St. Louis River Walkers: Two years without a postseason

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MBL news: Players and Pitchers of the Month for May

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MBL news: Rookies of the Month for May and June 1 standings

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MBL news: American League leaders on June 1

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MBL news: NL leaders on June 1

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Walkers news: Team stats on June 1

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Player of the Month: Nicky Delmonico: In 24 games, he batted .229 with five homers and 12 RBIs and eight runs scored. He boasted an on-base percentage of .301 and a slugging percentage of .482.
Starting pitcher of the month: Kyle Hendricks: In five games, he went 3-2 with a 2.29 ERA. He pitched 28.2 innings with a WHIP of 1.05 and 27 strikeouts.
Relief pitcher of the month: Phil Maton: In 14 games, he did not figure into a decision or earn a save. He pitched a total of 12 innings, boasting an ERA of 1.50 and WHIP of 1.08. He struck out 12 batters.

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Walkers news: Player development report for June 1

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Record: 24-28, 5th, 6.5 GB Springfield
Cruz Calderon turned around the first pitch thrown by St. Louis relief pitcher Reyes Moronta for a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift Chicago to a 4-1 win at Wrigley Field (1969).
With Bobby Poyner on the mound, a one-out throwing error by second baseman Bo Bichette on a ball hit by Luis Tuero got things in the seventh.
Tuero then stole second base, leading to an intentional walk to Gleyber Torres.
Jarred Klenic flew out for the second out of the inning, setting the stage for Moronta to enter.
His first pitch, a 90-per hour slider, Calderon smacked 400 feet into the seats in right center for his 19th home run of the season.
The River Walkers had taken a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning when Andrelton Simmons led off with a homer off G-Men starter Tyler Chatwood.
Chicago tied it in the bottom half when Matt Wallner doubled off St. Louis starter Kyle Hendricks.
A wild pitch moved him to third and Wallner scored on a two-out single from Ryan Jeffers off Phil Maton.
Chatwood worked six innings for the G-Men, allowing one run on two hits. He struck out four and walked none.
Jorge Guzman, Bryan Mitchell and Michael Feliz all worked a scoreless inning for Chicago.
Guzman earned his third win of the season. Feliz notched his 11th save.
Hendricks allowed one run on four hits in 5.1 innings.

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Record: 25-28, 5th, 6 GB Springfield
Alex Faedo took a shutout into the seventh inning and St. Louis defeated Chicago 4-1 at Wrigley Field (1969).
Faedo allowed no runs on two hits over the first six innings before pitching himself into trouble in the seventh.
He issued a lead-off walk to Matt Wallner, only to see him erased when George Springer hit into a double play.
However, Victor Caratini doubled ending Faedo's day in favor of Reyes Moronta.
Moronta, who had allowed a game-winning home run to the G-Men's Cruz Calderon the day before, once again failed to get the job done allowing a single to Emmanuel Rivera to put runners at the corners.
Pinch-hitter Gleyber Torres followed with a double bringing Caratini home with Chicago's first run of the game.
The ball then went to Bobby Poyner, and he was able to quell the threat by enduing a ground out by Luis Tuero.
After that, Brad Hand and Eduardo Jimenez combined on a scoreless eighth inning for the River Walkers.
Tommy Kahnle did the same in the ninth for his ninth save.
In his 6.1 innings, Faedo struck out five and walked two.
St. Louis went up early scoring three times in the first against Chicago starter Shohei Ohtani.
Rhys Hoskins drove in the first run with a single.

Another single, this one from Byron Buxton, plated the other two.
Bo Bichette got to Ohtani for an RBI single in the fourth, making it 4-0.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have announced the signing of 56-year-old Jung-Tang Kung as their hitting coach.
Kung replaces Kuzo Shoda, who the team hired prior to the start of the season.
However, during the 2022 campaign as ranked among the worst offensive teams in the National League necessitating a change before the season got too far gone.

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Record: 25-29, 5th, 6 GB Kansas City, Springfield and Des Moines
Shane McClanahan pitched six scoreless innings and Grand Rapids held off a late St. Louis rally in a 3-2 win at the Polo Grounds (1923).
McClanahan pitched out of a first-inning jam and then breezed over the next five innings, allowing four hits overall while striking out eight and walking none.
The Traders took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a solo homer from Kris Bryant off River Walkers starting pitcher Argenis Batista.
Joey Bart got to Batista for a two-run blast in the sixth, extending the lead to 3-0.
Bo Bichette knocked an RBI double in the eighth to get the Walkers on the board.
In the ninth, Christian Arroyo hit a pinch-hit, two-out solo shot off Grand Rapids closer Chassen Shreve pulling St. Louis to within a run.
Shreve, however, pulled it together and got Andrelton Simmons to ground out to end it and earn his 11th save.

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The St. Louis River Walkers made a pair of moves attempting to spark their slumping ballclub.
First, free-agent infielder Javier Baez was signed to a one-year contract worth $3.750M.

The 29-year-old Baez had not signed a contract up to this point in the season. He played last season for Green Bay, where he .268 with 12 homers and 58 RBIs in 118 games.
He is expected to share time at third base with Nicky Delmonico and provide depth at second base and shortstop.
The acquisition leaves Eduardo Escobar without a role, and with his refusal to accept a minor-league assignment he was traded to Columbus for 25-year-old right-handed relief pitcher Thad Ward.
St. Louis will pay the entirety of the amount left of money owed on Escobar's $4.6M contract.
He had been a huge disappointment in his one season with the Walkers, batting .168 with one homer and 10 RBIs in 45 games.
Bell has spent most of his career in the minors. He is 1-4 with nine saves between AA and AAA this season for the Golden Bears.

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Record: 26-29, 5th, 5 GB Kansas City, Springfield and Des Moines
Bo Bichette and Javy Baez both hit two-run homers in the first inning off Grand Rapids starting pitcher Alex Wood to help power St. Louis to a 7-1 win in a game that was called because of rain in the bottom of the eighth inning because of rain at the Polo Grounds (1923).
Just signed as a free agent by the River Walkers, Baez made quite the debut with a two-run homer and an RBI double in the third inning to make it 5-1.
Nicky Delmonico hit a solo homer off Jhoan Duran in the seventh, making it 7-1.
Walkers starting pitcher Brendan Spagnuolo turned in his second consecutive strong start. He allowed one run on five hits over six innings. He struck out five and walked none.
Phil Maton pitched a scoreless seventh inning and recorded the first out of the eighth before the rain hit and ended things.

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MBL news: Weird note about Columbus closer Ken Giles

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MBL news: All-Star game fan voting for June 5

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MBL news: Week 9 awards and standings

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Record: 28-29, 5th, 4 GB Kansas City and Des Moines
St. Louis scored once in the top of the first inning and twice in the third to build a 3-0 lead Indianapolis would never equal in a 3-2 win at the Astrodome (1995).
Byron Buxton led off the game with a single off Racers starting pitcher Julio Urias and later scored on a Nicky Delmonico sacrifice fly.
River Walkers pitcher Kyle Hendricks opened the third with a single and scored on a Rhys Hoskins bases-loaded sacrifice fly.
Buxton, who had followed Hendricks single, with one of his own found the plate following a wild pickoff throw by Urias.
St. Louis starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks allowed two runs on six hits over six innings en route to earning his ninth win of the season.
Four relievers combined to handle the final three innings.
Reyes Moronta handled the seventh, Felipe Vazquez (0.1) and Eduardo Jimenez (0.2) took care of the eighth and closer Tommy Kahnle was spotless in the ninth to earn his 10th save.

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Record: 28-30, 5th, 5 GB Kansas City
Indianapolis' Manny Machado snapped a 1-1 tie with a two-run home run off St. Louis reliever Reyes Moronta in the bottom of the eighth inning to help give the Racers a 3-1 win at the Astrodome (1995).
St. Louis grabbed a 1-0 lead right off the bat when Bo Bichette opened the game with a lead-off homer off Indy starting pitcher Yency Almonte.
The Racers tied it in the fifth when Garrett Whitley took Walkers starter Alex Faedo deep with a solo shot.
It remained tied until Machado's big blast.
Whitley worked 5.2 innings, allowing the one run on five hits. He struck out six and walked one.
Four relievers -- Gerson Bautista (1.1 IP) Taneo Ito (1.0), James Pasos (0.1) and Ryan Stanek (0.2) -- combined to finish it off for the Racers.
Stanek recorded the final two outs -- an Andrew Benintendi fly out and a ground out by Ender Inciarte -- with the tying run on second for his first save.

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Record: 29-30, 5th, 4.5 GB Springfield
St. Louis' Byron Buxton hit a pair of three-run home runs to help power the River Walkers to an 8-4 win over Indianapolis at the Astrodome (1995).
With the win, the River Walkers took two of three games from the Racers.
Buxton's first homer highlighted a five-run fourth-inning for St. Louis which broke open a scoreless game.
His blast came off Indianapolis starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow and provided the first runs of the game.
The Walkers continued their outburst against Glasnow, until a two-run single from Javier Baez made it 5-0 and ended his outing.
The Racers would get back into it, mostly through a three-run bottom of the fifth against St. Louis starting pitcher Argenis Batista.
A two-run double from Cristian Pache was the big hit.
Buxton's second homer pretty much sealed it, a three-run homer off reliever James Pazos with one-out in the eighth.
Batista managed to pitch long enough to earn the win. He worked five innings, giving up four runs on seven hits.
Phil Maton worked scoreless sixth and seventh innings. John Curtiss and Eduardo Jimenez did the same in the eighth and ninth, respectively, to finish it off.

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Record: 29-31, 5th, 5.5 GB Des Moines
Springfield rode a pair of home runs and 6.1 innings of shutout pitching from Wade Miley to a 3-0 win over St. Louis at Busch Stadium (1995).
A starter for the second half of the 2021 season for the River Walkers, Miley showed he's got plenty left shutting out St. Louis on six hits over his 6.1 innings. He struck out five and walked a pair.
Jorge Alfaro hit a two-run homer off St.Louis starting pitcher Brendan Spagnuolo in the second inning to stake the Prairie Fighters to a 2-0 lead.
It became 3-0 in the fifth when Anthony Alford took Spangnolo deep to leadoff the inning.
Hunter Strickland finished the seventh nning for Springfield.
Nick Vincent tossed a scoreless eighth inning. Gerson Moreno followed suit in the ninth for his 14th save.