2023 St. Louis River Walkers -- Postseason or bust

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Record: 37-27, 3rd, 0.5 GB Des Moines and Kansas City
Argenis Batista worked six shutout innings and Rhys Hoskins provided the game's only run with a homer as St. Louis downed Springfield 1-0 at Olympic Stadium (Montreal).
With the win, the River Walkers took the final three games of the four-game series.
Hoskins provided the only run of the game in the fifth when he led off with a homer off Springfield starter Josh Hader.
Batista (5-3) handled the first six innings with little issue, not allowing a run while giving up five hits. He struck out eight and walked none.
Reyes Moronto got first out of the sixth and Brad Hand handled the rest.
Jake Brentz worked a scoreless eighth.
The ninth was divided between Phil Maton, who got the first two outs, and Bobby Poyner, who got Michael Brantley to fly out with a runner on first to end it.
It was the first save of the season for Poyner.

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MBL news: Week 9 Awards and standings

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The game between St. Louis and Des Moines scheduled for June 20 has been postponed by rain.
It will be made up as part of a June 21 doubleheader at LaBatt Park.

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Record: 37-28, 3rd,

Des Moines pounded out all eight of hits runs over the first four innings as it routed St. Louis 8-1 in the opening game of a doubleheader at LaBatt Park (Montreal).
The Harvesters went to work right away in the bottom of the first when Khalil Lee drew a lead-off walk from River Walkers starter Brendan Spagnuolo.
He stole second and scored on a two-out single from Rafael Devers.
Des Moines added three more runs in the second. Carson Kelly and pitcher Sixto Sanchez with RBI singles and Logan Warmoth driving in one with a double.
After three innings it was 6-1, John Lehto collected an RBI with a single while Austin Meadows plated the other with a long fly ball.
Thad Ward took the mound for St. Louis in the fourth, but the Harvesters continued to onslaught.
Carlos David Rodriguez chased in the first run when he coaxed a bases-loaded walk.
Devers made it 8-1 with a sacrifice fly.
Sanchez (7-1) worked six innings, allowing the one run on three hits. He struck out seven and walked one.
Rory Stevens handled the final three innings, earning his first save of the season.

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Record: 37-29, 3rd, 3.5 GB Des Moines
Alec Bohm hit a pinch-hit homer off St. Louis reliever Phil Maton in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Des Moines a 2-1 win and a sweep of their doubleheader and short series at LaBatt Park (Montreal).
Maton entered the game at the start of the eighth and got Miguel Amaya to fly out to open the inning.
Bohm, however, spanked the first pitch he saw 398 feet over the left-field wall to break a 1-1 tie.
The game was scoreless into the bottom of the seventh when Cody Bellinger took River Walkers starter Aaron Nola deep to put the Harvesters up 1-0.
St. Louis tied it in the top of the next inning, after Andrelton Simmons drew a lead-off walk from Jandel Gustave.

Another walk, with one-out to Larry Ernesto, moved Simmons to second.
Christian Arroyo brought Simmons home with a double.
Harvesters starter Dane Dunning tossed seven shutout innings, allowing five hits. He struck out six and walked none.
Gustave worked the eighth inning and the ninth belonged to Ken GIles, who posted his 19th save.

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Record: 37-30, 3rd, 4.5 GB Des Moines
Willi Castro opened the top of the ninth inning with a double off St. Louis reliever Jake Brentz. He moved to third on a Gage Canning single and found the plate on a Charlie Blackmon sacrifice fly, as Rockford downed St. Louis 5-4 at Busch Stadium (1997).
The Thunder got to St. Louis starter Kyle Hendricks for four early runs.
Three came in the top of the first, two of them scoring on a two-run homer from Blackmon.
The lead grew to 4-0 in the third after Lewin Diaz led off with a homer off Hendricks.
The River Walkers tied it with one swing of Michael Toglia's bat, as the rookie cranked a grand slam off reliever Shawn Semple in the sixth to tie it.
Thunder starting pitcher Taylor Widener worked 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on four hits.
Semple finished the sixth inning.
Erasmo Pinales, Hansel Robles and Jimmy Sherfy all worked an inning apiece to close it out.
Robles earned his second win of the season. Sherfy notched save No. 13.

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Record: 38-30, 3rd, 3.5 GB Des Moines
St. Louis scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat Rockford 6-5 at Busch Stadium (1997).
The Lightning had snapped a 3-3 tie with a pair of runs in the top of the ninth.
Carlos Reina led off the inning with a double off River Walkers reliever Reyes Moronta.
Bobby Poyer replaced Moronta and struck out the next two batters before issuing an intentional walk to Willi Castro to bring the lefty-hitting Charlie Blackmon to the plate.
Blackmon followed with a single, scoring Castro.
Another lefty, Gage Canning, connected for another single to make it 5-3.
The Walkers, however, went to work right away against struggling Rockford reliever Jimmie Sherfy.
He walked lead-off hitter Cristhian Adames and Andrew Benintendi followed with a homer to tie it.
After a strike out, Michael Toglia set himself up to score the game-winning run with a single.

Pinch-hitter Larry Ernesto's double moved Toglia to third.
After an intentional walk to Jean Carmona, Erasmo Pinales took the mound.
J.T. Realmuto quickly ended it hitting a 1-0 pitch past the shortstop to score Toglia.
Walkers starter Alex Faedo allowed two runs on four hits over six innings.
Four relievers followed him -- John Curtiss (0.2 IP), Brad Hand (1.0). Moronta (0.1) and Poyner (1.0) -- to close out the game.
Poyner earned his third win of the season.

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Record: 39-30, 3rd, 2.5 GB Des Moines
Argenis Batista tossed seven scoreless innings and combined with a pair of relievers on a five-hit shutout in St. Louis' 5-0 win over Rockford at Busch Stadium (1997).
Batista allowed all five of the Lightning's hits during his time on the mound. He struck out seven and walked none.
Jake Brentz didn't allow a baserunner in the eighth inning. Bobby Poyner did the same in the ninth.
The River Walkers got the only run they needed in the bottom of the first when Michael Toglia doubled with one out and scored on a two-out single by Rhys Hoskins.

Toglia hit his sixth homer of the season in the sixth inning, a solo shot off Rockford starter Alex Reyes, to make it 2-0.
St. Louis broke it open with a three-run bottom of the eighth. Nicky Delmonico drove in two of the the runs with a double off Casey Meisner.

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MBL news: All-Star fan voting update for June 25

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Record: 39-31, 3rd, 3.5 GB Des Moines
Rockford put up two runs against the St. Louis bullpen in both the eighth and ninth innings to come away with a 5-3 win at Busch Stadium (1997).
With the victory, the Lightning split the four-game series against the River Walkers.
Tied 1-1, Rockford took control in the top of the eighth inning when Amed Rosario led off with a single off reliever John Curtiss.
A Dylan Cozens single off Brad Hand moved him to third.
Ezquiel Pagan grounded out, but moved both runners into scoring position.
Willi Castro scored Rosario with a sacrifice fly.
Couzens came home when Lewin Diaz singled.
The Lightning added two more runs in the ninth.Rio Ruiz did most of thr work with a two-run homer off Reyes Moronta.
The River Walkers got a lead-off homer from Andrew Benintendi in the bottom of the ninth, pulling to within 5-2.
St. Louis later got two-out singles from J.T. Realmuto and Jean Carmona to bring the tying run to the plate.
Shawn Semple, however, stepped in and got Larry Ernesto to fly out to end it.
Rockford starter Michael Wacha allowed one run on three hits over 6.1 innings before giving way to the bullpen.
Five relievers -- Gabriel Moya (0.2 IP), Michael Brettell (0.1), Hector Robles (0.1), Jimmy Serfy (0.2) and Semple (0.1) -- all got a chance to pitch.
Moya earned his first win of the season.
For Semple, the save was his fourth.

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MBL news: Week 10 awards and standings

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Record: 39-32, 3rd, 4.5 GB Des Moines
Chicago battered St. Louis starting pitcher Aaron Nola for six runs in the first three innings and went on for an 8-3 win over the River Walkers at Busch Stadium (1997).
After a quiet first inning, the G-Men put up four runs in the second against Nola.
Josh Donaldson drove in the first run with a double, the first of four straight hits for Chicago.
Chris Rodriguez drove in the second run with a single.
Petey Halpin made it 3-0 with an RBI double.
The fourth hit came from Phil Fitzgerald, whose double made it 4-0.
A Ryan Jeffers homer in the third made it 6-0, and put shortly thereafter Nola's outing was over.
Rodriguez tossed five shutout innings for Chicago, allowing just three hits while striking out six and walking none.
A Rhys Hoskins homer off Trevor Hildenberger accounting for all three St. Louis runs in the sixth, and made it 7-3.
Hildenberger (0.2 IP), Jose Guzman (0.1), Taylor Rogers (1.0), Scott Alexander (1.1) and James Pazos handled the remaining mound duties for the G-Men.

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Record: 39-34, 3rd, 5 GB Des Moines
Brent Honeywell handled the first five innings and five relievers took care of the rest as Chicago shut out St. Louis 5-0 at Busch Stadium (1997).
Honeywell allowed just two hits during his time on the mound, while striking out six and walking none.
The remainder of the game was handled by Jamie Callahan (1.0 IP), Jose Guzman (1.0), Trevor Hildenberger (0.1), Scott Alexander (0.2) and Taylor Rogers (1.0).
Petey Halpin led off the game with a solo homer off River Walkers starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks and Victor Caratini did the same in the second.
The G-Men added two more runs in the fifth, as Honeywell led off the inning with a triple and scored on a Phil Fitzgerald ground out.
Shohei Ohtani followed with a solo homer, making it 4-0.
Chicago added its final run in the sixth on a RBI double from Josh Donaldson.

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Record: 40-33, 3rd, 5 GB Des Moines
Alex Faedo and a trio of relievers took a shutout into the ninth inning, as St. Louis downed Chicago 5-1 at Busch Stadium (1997).
Faedo worked 6.2 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out seven and walking two.
Reyes Moronta finished the seventh inning.
Thad Ward tossed a scoreless eighth and got the first two outs of the ninth, before allowing a homer to Shoehi Ohtani to end the shutout and make it 5-1.
Brad Hand took over and after allowing a single struck out Gleyber Torres to end it.
Rhys Hoskins led off the bottom of the second with a homer off G-Men starter Sonny Gray to put the River Walkers up 1-0.
Andrew Benintendi spanked a solo shot off Gray with one out in the sixth, making it 2-0.
The Walkers third solo homer of the game. this one from Cristhian Adames off James Pazos, in the seventh made it 3-0.
Hoskins drove in a run in the eighth with a sacrifice fly off Taylor Rogers.
A Nicky Delmonico single RBI single later in the same inning made it 5-0.

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Record: 40-34, 3rd, 6 GB Des Moines
Chicago's Cruz Calderon hit three home runs to help power the G-Men to a 9-3 win over St. Louis at Busch Stadium (1997).
With the win, Chicago took three of four games in its series against the River Walkers.
Calderon's first homer was a solo shot off St. Louis starter Argenis Batista in the first inning, giving Chicago a 1-0 lead.
His second homer, also a solo shot also off Torres, came in the fourth pushing the G-Men's lead to 2-0.
Calderon launched his third bomb in the seventh, off reliever Reyes Moronta, staking Chicago to a 7-2 advantage.
The G-Men's Gleyber Torres also had a big game, going 3 for 5 with a homer, three runs scored and one RBI.
Chicago starter Luis Noguera worked five innings, giving up two runs on five hits.
Five relievers -- Jamie Callahan (1.0 IP), Jose Guzman (1.0), Scott Alexander (0.2), James Pazos (0.1) and Michael Feliz (1.0) -- followed Noguera to the mound to seal the win.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have activated second baseman Bo Bichette from the 10-day disabled list and sent infielder Cristhian Adames to AAA Memphis, pending he make it through waivers.
Bichette has been out since June 17 with a bruised right foot.
In 58 games this season, the 25-year-old has batted .269 with 10 homers and 20 RBIs.
In 14 games with the River Walkers this season, the 31-year-old Adames has batted .251 with one homer and one RBI.

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Record: 41-34, 3rd, 5 GB Des Moines
Edmond Americaan went 5 for 5 with two doubles, two homers, two runs scored and four RBIs to help power St. Louis to an 8-1 win over Dayton at Memorial Stadium (Baltimore, 1986).
Scoreless into the fifth, the River Walkers took the lead in the top of the fifth inning with Americaan driving in all three runs with a homer oiff Dayton starting pitcher Jake Thompson.
St. Louis lead grew to 4-0 in the top of the eighth, Michael Toglia with a homer off reliever Kevin Gausman.
The Walkers made it lopsided in the ninth, launching three homers to pave the way to four runs.
Andrelton Simmons and Americaan both hit solo shots.
Andrew Benintendi plated the final two runs with a two-run blast.
All the offense overshadowed a strong performance by St. Louis starter Brendan Spagnuolo.
The right-hander tossed 6.2 scoreless innings, scattering six hits while striking out five and walking one.
Brad Had got the final out of the seventh inning and the first two outs of the eighth.
John Curtiss did the rest, also allowing Dayton's only run of the game, to seal the win.

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MBL news: Players and Pitchers of the Month for June

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

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MBL news: American League leaders on July 1