2023 St. Louis River Walkers -- Postseason or bust

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Record: 77-68, 2nd, 10 GB Des Moines
Alex Civale shutout St. Louis through his six innings to help lead Rockford to a 4-2 win over St. Louis at RFK Stadium (1962).
The River Walkers could not muster much against Civale, managing just four hits while striking out eight times and earning just one walk.
Charlie Blackmon led off the bottom of the second with a homer off Walkers starter Brendan Spagnuolo, staking the Lightning to a 1-0 lead.
Another homer helped Rockford go up 3-0, Carlos Reina taking reliever Phil Maton deep in the seventh, putting the Lightning ahead 3-0.
Michael Toglia spanked a two-run shot off Rockford reliever Hansel Robles in the eight, pulling the Walkers to within a run.
The Lightning got run of those runs back in the bottom of the inning after Gage Canning led off with a triple off Wilmer Jimenez and Lewin Diaz helped him cross the plate with a single.
In the ninth, the Walkers' Jean Carmona doubled with one out off Rockford closer Jimmy Sherfy.
But Sherfy struck out George Valera and got Dahiandy Johnson to fly out to end it, and earn himself his 29th save.
After Civale exited following the sixth inning, Erasmo Pinales took over and worked a scoreless seventh.

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Record: 77-62, 3rd, 11 GB Des Moines, Magic number to elimination: 8

Michael Wacha threw 6.2 scoreless innings and the Des Moines pitching staff carried a shutout into what turned out to be a 4-1 win over St. Louis at RFK Stadium (1962).
Down 4-0, the River Walkers tried to rally in the top of the ninth against the Thunder's bullpen loading the bases with one out.
Pinch-hitter Dahiandy Johnson drove in St. Louis' first run, plating Andrew Benintnedi with a sacrifice fly.
Rockford closer Jimmie Sherfy then walked George Valera to reload the bases.
But Larry Ernesto flew out to put an end to things.
Wacha (10-7) allowed just three hits while striking out three and walking one during his time on the hill.
The Thunder grabbed a 2-0 lead when Amed Rosario hit a two-run homer off Walkers starter Aaron Nola in the bottom of the first.
Another two-run homer, this one from Lewin Diaz off Tony Cingrani in the bottom of the sixth, later made it 4-0.
Seth Lugo completed the sixth inning for Rockford.
He was followed to the mound by Erasmo Pinales (1.0) and Gabriel Moya (0.1), before Sherfy took the mound to notch his 30th save.

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Record: 78-62, 2nd, 11 GB Des Moines
Romy Gonzalez and Michael Toglia both homered twice and St. Louis went deep a total of seven times in a 15-2 rout of Rockford at RFK Stadium (1962).
With the win, the River Walkers took the finale of the three-game series after dropping the first two.
Down 1-0 after the Lightning's Gage Canning homered off River Walkers starting pitcher Alex Faedo in the bottom of the first, St. Louis took the lead for good in the top of the next half inning.
Rhys Hoskins opened the inning with a lead-off blast off Lightning starter Adalberto Meija and Toglia followed right up with the first of his two homers, as St. Louis went up 2-1.
Canning struck again with an RBI single off Faedo in the third, tying it at 2.
But the Walkers seized the advantage right back with a two-run homer off Mejia in the top of the fourth.
From there, it was all St. Louis as it scored 11 runs over the final five innings.
In addition to the two homers from Toglia and Gonzalez, Toglia would hit a three-run blast in the seventh while Gonzalez's second homer was a solo shot in the ninth, St. Louis got homers from Rhys Hoskins, Dahihandy Johnson and Larry Ernesto.
Faedo (13-9) worked six innings, allowing two runs on three hits. He struck out seven and walked two.
Hunter Perdue, Eduardo Jimenez and Brad Brann all worked scoreless inning apiece to close it out.

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Record: 79-62, 2nd, 10 GB Des Moines
Argenis Batista threw 6.1 shutout innings, allowing just one hit, and Rhys Hoskins hit a two-run homer to help give St. Louis a 2-1 win over Kansas City at Kansas City Municipal Stadium (1969).
Hoskins broke open a scoreless game in the top of the fourth with a one-out homer off Pablo Lopez. His blast scored Andrew Benintendi who had preceded him with a one-out walk.
The only hit Batista (11-9) allowed was a two-out single by Jefry Marte in the third inning.
Batista exited after walking Yasmani Grandal with one out in the seventh.
John Curtiss took the mound and struck out Eric Thames and got Adrian Hernandez to fly out to end the inning.
The Pit Masters got their run in the bottom of the eighth on a solo homer from pinch-hitter Danny Cushing off Brent Suter to lead-off the inning.
Phil Maton replaced Suter and after getting a fly out, allowed a single to Marte and walked Brian Mundell to put two runners aboard.
The River Walkers opted to bring in closer Jake Brentz, and he got out of the inning by getting Mookie Betts to hit into a double play.
Brentz retired the Masters in order in the ninth for his eighth save.

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Record: 79-63, 3rd, 11.5 GB Des Moines
Kansas City put up four runs against St. Louis starter Jimmy Lambert in the bottom of the first inning, and Kyle Wright and four relievers combined on a four-hit shutout as the Pit Masters downed the River Walkers 4-0 at Kansas Municipal Stadium (1967).
The Masters first three batters reached against Lambert to open the bottom of the first.
Danny Cushing drove in the game's first run with the third hit, a double.
Joey Gallo made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly.
Yordan Alvarez handled the rest with a two-out, two-run homer.
Wright took care of the first 4.2 innings, allowed three hits.
He was followed to the mound by Jesus Castillo (1.1 IP), Dario Alvarez (1.0), Nathan Karns (1.0) and Anthony Tuionetoa (1.0).

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Record: 79-69, 3rd, 12 GB Des Moines
Kansas City scored a run in each of the first three innings to send the Pit Masters on the way to a 4-2 win over St. Louis as Kansas City Municipal Stadium (1967).
Greg Jones got things started quickly when he led off the bottom of the first with a homer off River Walkers starting pitcher Brendan Spagnuolo.
The River Walkers tied it in the top of the second after Michael Toglia led off with a homer off Pit Masters starting pitcher Max Fried.
But the lead was back in the hands of Kansas City in the bottom of the second, Yasmani Grandal doubling with one out and scoring on a Jones single.
The Pit Masters lead grew to 3-1 in the third, Joey Gallo with a one-out homer off Spagnuolo.
Byron Buxton singled to lead off the fifth for the Walkers and scored when Rhys Hoskins reached on an error by Gallo at third.
That was the end of the scoring for St. Louis.
Kansas City added an insurance run in the sixth, Jefry Marte with an RBI single off John Curtiss.
Marte's hit scored Yoyner Fajardo who had singled with two outs and later stole second base.
Kansas City starting pitcher Max Fried allowed two runs on six hits over 4.1 innings.

Tyson Miller finished the fifth inning and worked a scoreless sixth to earn his fourth win of the season.
Albert Hernandez (0.1 IP), Kyle Nelson (1.1), David Berg (0.1) and Zach Burdi (1.0) took care of the pitching duties the rest of the way.
The save was the 30th of the season for Burdi.

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Record: 79-70, 3rd, 12 GB Des Moines
Matt Duce saw the second pitch he saw from Brad Hand in the bottom of the 11th inning and drove it over the wall to give Kansas City a 1-0 win over St. Louis at Kansas City Municipal Stadium (1967).
With the win, the Pit Masters took the final three games of the four-game series with the River Walkers. St. Louis sits in third place in the National League Division, some 12 games behind first-place Des Moines with 13 games remaining.
Anthony Tuionetoa (1-0) earned the win after pitching a scoreless top of the 11th.
Before that, six relievers combined to hold the Walkers scoreless over the first 10 innings allowing just four hits.
Chance Adams opened the game with five scoreless innings.
He was followed by Nathan Karns, Danny Barnes, Dario Alvarez, Zach Burdi, David Berg, who all worked a scoreless inning apiece, before Tuionetoa took the mound in the 11th.
St. Louis starter Aaron Nola worked eight soutout innings, allowing just two hits. He struck out six and walked none.

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MBL news: Week 22 awards and standings

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Record: 79-71, 3rd, 12.5 GB Des Moines
Alex Faedo worked six shutout innings but was letdown by his bullpen as St. Louis fell 3-1 to Quad City at Busch Stadium (1997).
With the loss, first-place Des Moines magic number to eliminate St. Louis from playoff contention is down to 1.

The River Walkers took an early lead and got their lone run in the bottom of the second when rookie Romy Gonzalez homered off Thunder starting pitcher Michael Santos.
Faedo exited after throwing 105 pitches over six innings, allowing five hits while striking out nine and walking one.
Tony Cingrani (0.1 IP) and John Curtiss (0.2) combined to work a scoreless seventh inning.
It was in the eighth when things started to fall part.
Closer Jake Brentz came in with one out and was greeted by a single from Randolph Thorne followed by a Miguel Gomez double, which scored Thorne to tie it.
Blake Rutherford drew a walk to put runners at second and third.
Thad Ward replaced Brentz and was able to get out of the inning without any further damage.
In the ninth, Phil Maton took over St. Louis and gave up a lead-off single to pinch-hitter Luken Baker.
After an out, Ka'ai Tom singled putting runners at first and second.
An Orlando Arcia single loaded the bases.
Thorne followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Bake and snapping the tie.
Miguel Gomez followed with another single, pushing the Quad City lead to 3-1.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Walkers did have two runners aboard with two outs.
But Brenan Hanifee got pinch-hitter Larry Ernesto to ground out to end it.
Santos handled the first 5.2 innings for the Thunder, allowing the one run on four hits. He struck out five and walked none.
Trae Harmon got the final out of the sixth and worked a scoreless seventh.
P.J. Conlon (4-1) worked the eighth and earned the win.
Hanifee pitched out of the jam in the ninth and notched his first save.

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Record: 79-72, 3rd, 12.5 GB Des Moines
The St. Louis River Walkers chances of making the postseason officially came to an end with a 4-3 loss to the Quad City Thunder at Busch Stadium (1997).
The Walkers did grab an early 3-0 lead with a big first inning.
Byron Buxton led off the inning with a double off Q-C starter Evan Steele and later scored on a Rhys Hoskins double.
Bo Bichette hit a two-run homer later in the inning, making it 3-0.
The Thunder started to chip away in top of the second.
Carter Kieboom led off with a single off St. Louis starter Argenis Batista.
An Orlando Arcia double moved him to third.
Niko Decolati chased him home with a ground out.
After 2.5 innings, it was 3-2.
Steele, the pitcher, led off with a single and moved to second on a bunt.
A groundout plated Steele at third, and he scored on a Miguel Gomez double.
Quad City grabbed the lead in the fiffth.
Conner Capel opened the inning with a single off Batista, he than stole second base while Batista was retiring the next two batters.
Ka'ai Tom drew a two-out walk.
Miguel Gomez followed with a double, scoring both baserunners and giving the Thunder a 4-3 lead.
Steele worked four innings, giving up three runs on six hits.
Sugar Ray Marimon and Nick Wood followed by pitching two scoreless innings apiece.
The ninth belonged to Jimmy Herget, who earned his 33rd save of the season.

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Record: 80-72, 3rd, 11.5 GB Des Moines
Dahiandy Johnson homered in the first and Larry Ernesto went deep in the fourth to help power St. Louis to a 5-2 win over Quad City at Busch Stadium (1997).
The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for the River Walkers, who had been eliminated from postseason contention the previous day.
With that. St. Louis allowed all of its primary starters to take the game off.
Johnson hit a two-run shot off Thunder starting pitcher Matt Ruppenthal in the first inning, staking the Walkers to a 2-0 lead.
Ernesto's three-run blast in the fourth off Ruppenthal was part of a four-run inning, as St. Louis lead grew to 6-1.
Pitcher Ernesto Rio drove in the Tanner Kohlhepp with a single for the inning's first run.
Making his first major league start, Rios (1-0) worked six innings giving up two runs on five hits. He struck out five and walked none.
Thad Ward, Brent Suter and Hunter Perdue all pitched an inning apiece to close out the win.

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Despite a 3-0 loss to Cedar Rapids, the Des Moines Harvesters clinched their third National League South Division title in four years following a 3-1 Kansas City loss to Springfield.
With 10 games left in the season, Des Moines owns a 10.5 game advantage over the Pit Masters.
As for the best record in the National League, the Harvesters sit two games behind Chicago.
The G-Men (93-59) owned a seven-game lead over Green Bay in the NL North Division race.

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Record: 81-72, 3rd, 11 GB Des Moines, eliminated from playoff contention
Larry Ernesto led off the game with a homer and St. Louis never trailed in posting a 6-2 win over Springfield at Olympic Stadium (Montreal).
Ernesto's 10th homer of the season came off Prairie Fighters starter Josh Hader.
The River Walkers added two runs in the second on a two-run shot from Romy Gonzalez.
Springfield did get a pair of runs off St. Louis starter Jimmy Lambert in the third, Wander Samuel Franco with an RBI single and Kyle Lewis plating the other on a fielder's choice, as Springfield drew within a run.
The Walkers, however, boosted their lead to 5-2 when Andrew Benintendi hit a two-run homer off Justin Lawrence in the fifth and they were never seriously threatened again.
Lambert worked six innings, allowing two runs on six hits.

Bill Warson (0.2 IP), Bill Hand (1.0), Phil Maton (0.1) and Hunter Perdue (1.0) combined to keep the Fighters off the board over the final three innings.

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Record: 82-72, 2nd, 11 GB Des Moines
Jackson Smeltz turned in an impressive major league debut allowing two runs over six innings to help St. Louis post an 8-2 win over Springfield at OIympic Stadium (Montreal).
Smeltz allowed eight hits duriing his time on the mound, while striking out none but he didn't walk any either.
Down 2-1, the River Walkers took control with four runs in the top of the seventh inning.
Dahiandy Johnson provided the big blow with a bases-loaded double off reliever Alex Claudio which scored two.
Romy Gonzalez later had an RBI single. Michael Toglia plated the inning's final run on a ground out.
Christian Arroyo hit a three-run homer off Triston McKenzie in the eighth to make it 8-2.
Wilmer Jimenez, Hunter Perdue and Bill Warson all worked a scoreless inning apiece to close out a win which assured the Walkers would finish the season with at least a .500 record.

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MBL news: Players and Pitchers of Month for September

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MBL news: Rookies of the Month and Oct. 1 standings

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MBL news: American League leaders on Oct. 1

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MBL news: National League leaders on Oct. 1

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Walkers news: Team statistics for September

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Player of the Month: Michael Toglia: The National League Rookie of the Month for the second time in a row, Toglia batted .30 with eight homers, 20 runs and 20 RBIs in 25 games. He boasted an on-base percentage of .353 and slugged at a .670 clip.
Pitcher of the Month: Aaron Nola: The veteran right-hander went 2-1 in five starts with a 2.61 ERA. He worked a total of 31.0 innings, striking out 24 while boasting a 0.90 WHIP.
Relief pitcher of the Month: Jake Brentz: The left-hander worked in nine games going 1-0 with three saves. He worked 10 innings, striking out 12 and had a 0.80 WHIP.