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

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Record: 7-1, 1st, 1.5 GA Springfield
St. Louis needed a little late-inning magic to extend its early-season winning streak to seven games with a 7-6 win over Quad City at Busch Stadium (1997).
The Thunder's Wil Myers connected for a two-run homer off St. Louis reliever Bobby Poyner in the top of the ninth to give his team a 6-4 lead.
But the River Walkers got things going immediately in the bottom of the inning.
Catcher J.T. Realmuto drew a lead-off walk from reliever J.D. Hammer.
Eduardo Escobar followed with his first homer of the season, tying it at 6-6.
Bryon Buxon, who already was 3 for 4 at the plate, drew a walk.
Rookie Tyler Esplin chased him home with a triple to end a day in which he was 3 for 5 with a triple, a homer, two runs scored and two RBIs.
St. Louis starter Trevor Hildenberger failed to get out of the fifth inning for the second consecutive game.

He lasted 4.1 innings, allowing three runs on six hits.
All eight members of the St. Louis bullpen ended up seeing action.
John Curtiss, who followed Hildenberger to the mound, had the longest stint getting the final two outs of the fifth inning and tossing a tossing sixth.
Tommy Kahnle, who ended up relieving Poyner in the ninth, earned his first win of the season despite recording just one out.
Thunder starting pitcher Franklin Perez gave up three runs on six hits in five innings.

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Record: 7-2, 1st, 1.5 GA Springfield Down 2-1, Quad City scored four runs in the sixth inning and then repeated that output in the eighth on its way to a 9-2 win over St. Louis at Busch Stadium (1997). With the win, The Thunder split the two-game series with the River Walkers. The loss also snapped a seven-game win streak for St. Louis, dating back to the second game of the season. The sixth-inning outburst was highlighted by a three-run home run from Blake Rutherford off Walkers relief pitcher Bobby Poyner. The home run was the third allowed by Poyner in just four innings this season. The eighth inning saw Rutherford strike again, he would finish the game 3 for 5 with a double, a homer, two runs scored and four RBIs, with an RBI double off reliever Brad Hand. Singles did the rest of the damage, with Jamie Roof, Derek Fisher and Wil Myers all connecting for run-scoring hit off Phil Maton. Thunder starter Michael Santos allowed two runs on seven hits over five innings. Abel M. De Los Santos and Evan Steele handled the sixth and seventh, respectively. P.J. Conlon tossed a scoreless final two innings.

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Record: 7-3, 1st, 1 GA Springfield and Kansas City Cedar Rapids overcame an early bout of wildness by starting pitcher Chris Archer by scoring five runs in the bottom of the second inning and went on to a 9-4 win over St. Louis at Shibe Park (1949). Archer didn't allow hit in the first inning, but he walked six batter which allowed the River Walkers to grab a quick 2-0 lead. The Golden Grapplers got those run backs and much more in the bottom of the second against St. Louis starter David Price. Cedar Rapids had five hits in the inning, the big one a grand slam from Victor Robles. Joc Pederson took Price deep to open the fourth inning, expanding the lead to 6-2. Trevor Story got to River Walkers reliever Bobby Poyner for a three-run homer in the eighth. Poyner has now allowed four home runs in five innings. Archer got things figured out enough to work five innings, allowing two runs on two hits. He struck out seven and walked five. Ben Bowden, Jacob Rhame, Tyler Bashlor and Danny Grigg all worked an inning apiece to close it out.

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Record: 8-3, 1st, 1 GA Kansas City Rookie Tyler Esplin snapped a 2-2 tie with his fourth home run of the season in the top of the seventh inning to help lift St. Louis to a 3-2 win over Cedar Rapids at Shibe Park (1949). River Walkers starting pitcher Aaron Nola allowed run-scoring doubles to Dominic Smith and Joc Pedersen in the fourth inning allowing the Golden Grapplers to take a 2-1 lead. St. Louis tied it in the sixth when Bo Bichette singled with one out off Michael Kopech. A wild pitch moved Bichette to second. Andrelton Simmons chased him home with a double. Jacob Rhame surrendered Esplin's one out homer in the seventh. Nola allowed two runs on eight hits over six innings. Bobby Poyner (0.1 IP), Reyes Moronta (0.1), Felix Vazquez (1.0) and Eduardo Jimenez (0.1) combined to work a scoreless seventh and eighth. Tommy Kahnle allowed a pair of singles in the ninth, but still notched his fourth save.

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Record: 9-3 , 1st, 2 GA Kansas City St. Louis overcame a 2-1 deficit and held on for a 5-4 win over Cedar Rapids at Shibe Park (1949). With the win, the River Walkers took the final of the three-game weekend series. St. Louis started its comeback in the sixth inning, when David Cullinson issued a bases-loaded walk to Bo Bichette and a run-scoring sacrifice fly to Eduardo Escobar. The Walkers added single insurance runs in the seventh, Andrew Benintendi with an RBI single off Brent Suter, and ninth when Rhys Hoskins lead off with a solo homer off Jacob Rhame. St. Louis would need those runs as closer Tommy Kahnle had his first rough outing of the season. After converting his first four save opportunities, five of the six batters he faced, fortunately all via singles, as the Golden Grapplers pulled to within 5-4. Phil Maton was called in with one out and runners at first and second. He got Dominic Smith to hit into a double play to end it, giving him his first save of the season. Walkers starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks improved to 3-0 by going five innings during which he allowed two runs on four hits.He struck out six and walked two. Four relievers -- Felipe Vazquez (0.1 IP), Eduardo Jimenez (1..2), Reyes Moronta (0.0), and Brad Hand (1.0) -- combined to keep the Grapplers scoreless in the sixth through eighth innings.

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Record: 9-4, 1st, 1 GA Kansas City A Yasmani Grandal grand slam highlighted a five-run bottom of the first inning for Kansas City as it rolled to a 7-2 win over St. Louis at Kansas Municipal Stadium. River Walkers starter Trevor Hildenberger had all kinds of problems in his opening inning, allowing four hits and walking the first two batters the Pit Masters sent to the plate. Brian Mundell drove in the inning's first one, tying it at 1-1. Grandal's slam came on the first pitch he saw and traveled 361 feet into the right-field seats. Hildenberger settled down after that with five shutout innings, but the damage had already been done. Kansas City added two more runs in the seventh against reliever John Curtiss. A bases-loaded walk to Gallo drove in the first run. A Mundell single earned him his second RBI of the game. The Masters got a strong effort from starter Trevor Oaks, who allowed just the one run on three hits in seven innings. He struck out seven and walked one. Wily Peralto and Drew Anderson kept the River Walkers off the board in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.

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Record: 10-4, 1st, 2 GA Kansas City After struggling to hit home runs for much of the season, St. Louis blasted four to pound its way to a 10-4 win over Kansas City in the second game of a doubleheader at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. The River Walkers didn't need the long ball to grab a 3-0 lead in the top of the second. Rookie Edmond Americaan drove in a run with a single, his first major-league hit, and Bryon Buxton plated two with a triple off Pit Masters starting pitcher Jameson Taillon. J.T. Realmuto struck the first round tripper, leading off the fourth with a 391-foot shot off Taillon. Andrew Beintendi scorched Taiilon for another solo shot in the fifth, putting St. Louis ahead 5-1. Three innings after collecting his first major league hit and RBI, Americaan notched his first homer with a solo shot off reliever Juan Minaya. Then after Kansas City had pulled to within 6-3 following a long shot of its own -- Joey Gallo with a two-run homer off St. Louis starter Alex Faedo -- rookie Tyler Esplin answered in a big way in the seventh blasting a grand slam off David Berg. The homer was Esplin's team-leading fifth of the season. Faedo worked six innings for the Walkers, allowing the three runs on a five hits. He struck out seven and walked one. Bobby Poyner kept the Masters scoreless in the seventh and eighth. Phil Maton did allow a lead-off homer to Jordan Alvarez in the ninth. But Brad Hand closed it out without any issue.

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Record: 10-5, 1st, 1 GB Kansas City Kansas City scored once in four separate innings to pave the way for a 4-3 win over St. Louis at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. With the win, the Pit Masters took two of three games in their series against the River Walkers. Tied 1-1, Kansas City took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth inning when Danny Cushing hit a solo homer off Walkers reliever Eduardo Jimenez. Jimenez entered the game in the second inning when starting pitcher David Price had to leave the game with a forearm strain. He is expected to miss up to eight weeks. Joey Gallo opened the sixth inning with a solo homer, his 11th of the season, off Reyes Moronta to put the Masters ahead 3-1. In the seventh, Freddie Galvis tripled off Felipe Vazquez and scored on a Mookie Betts sacrifice fly off Phil Maton. It proved important as the Walkers pulled to within 4-3, by scoring twice in the eighth inning. Pinch-hitter Eduardo Escobar drove in both runs with a one-out double off Ryan Burr. But Burr struck out J.T. Realmuto and Byron Buxton to end the inning. He later pitched around a lead-off single from Tyler Esplin to post his third save. Kansas City starter Dinelson Lamet gave up one run in five innings. He allowed six hits while striking out seven and walking one. He was followed to the mound by seven relievers. Andrew Ryan with a scoreless sixth and Burr, who recorded the final five outs, did the bulk of the work.

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The St. Louis River Walkers have placed left-handed starting pitcher David Price on the injured list and have called up Brendan Spagnuolo from AAA Memphis to replace him in the starting rotation. The 36-year-old Price was injured while pitching during the second inning of a 4-3 loss to Kansas City on April 20. He was diagnosed with a strained forearm and is expected to miss up to eight weeks. Price had gone 1-1 with an ERA of 6.55 in three starts for the Walkers in 2022. A right-hander, the 26-year-old Spagnuolo was 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA in three starts for the Redbirds. In 2021, he got into five major league games (three starts) and gone 0-2 with a 9.82 ERA. However, he fared much better in five spring training starts going 1-1 with a 3.15 ERA. The plan was for Spagnuolo to pitch at AAA through probably the end of May before deciding to see if he was ready for a spot in the major-league rotation. Price's injury forces the injury to be made a month earlier.

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Record: 11-5, 1st, 1.5 GA Kansas City Byron Buxton snapped a 3-3 tie with a solo home run off Indianapolis relief pitcher Ryne Stanek with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to help lift St. Louis to a 4-3 win at Busch Stadium (1997). The River Walkers overcame a 2-0 deficit, only to fall behind again 3-2. They tied it in the bottom of the sixth when Rhys Hoskins smacked a solo homer off Scott Oberg. St. Louis then took the lead for good behind Buxton's long ball off Stanek. River Walkers starting pitcher Aaron Nola gave up three runs on seven hits over six innings. John Curtiss, Reyes Moronta and Tommy Kahnle all worked an inning apiece to close it out. Curtiss earned his first win of the season. Kahnle notched his fifth save.

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MBL news: Week 2 awards and standings
(This should have gone after the April 17 game, but the Web site was out of whack and not accepting attatchments).

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Record: 12-5, 1st, 2 GA Kansas City
Nicky Delmonico snapped a 2-2 tie with his first homer of the season in the bottom of the seventh inning, rookie Tyler Esplin added a two-run blast in the eighth as St. Louis down Indianapolis 5-2 at Busch Stadium (1997).
Delmonico's solo shot came off Jake Reed with two outs in the seventh.
Esplin's homer was off Henry Martinez. It was the red-hot rookie's sixth of the season.
Walkers starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks worked seven innings, giving up two runs on four hits. He struck out six and walked one.
Reyes Moronta and Felix Vazquez combined for a quiet eighth inning.
Phil Maton handled the ninth and posted his second save of the season.

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Record: 12-6, 1st, 1 GA Kansas City
Indianapolis put together a four-run top of the second inning against St.Louis starting pitcher Alex Faedo and made it stand up with a 4-3 win at Busch Stadium (1997).
With the win, the Racers took the final game of the three-game series after dropping the first two.
Indy's first three batters reached base against Faedo to open the second, including an RBI double from Austin Barnes.
Pitcher Julio Urias and Gabriel Maciel both drove in runs with ground outs.
D.J. Stewart made it 4-0 with a run-scoring double.
A Rhys Hoskins solo homer off Urias got the Walkers onto the board.
They added two more in the sixth to pull within a run.
But St. Louis could not get it tied, despite having a runner at second base with no outs in the seventh.
Urias left after four innings having allowed one run on four hits.
He was followed to the mound by five relievers -- Aaron Sanchez (1.1 IP), Henry Martinez (0.2), Gerson Bautista (1.0), Ryan Stanek (1.0) and Pazos (1.0) -- with Sanchez earning his first win of the season and Pazos his second save.

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MBL news: Week 4 Awards and standings

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Record: 13-6, 1st, 1 GA Kansas City
Bo Bichette hit a three-run homer and Nicky Delmonico followed with a solo shot to spark a four-run top of the eighth inning as St. Louis rallied for a 5-4 2 win over Ann Arbor at Crosley Field (1958).
Down 4-1 going into the eighth, rookie Tyler Esplin got things going with a lead-off double off reliever Ardolis Chapman.
Pat Light replaced Chapman but allowed a single to the only batter he faced, Rhy Hoskins.
Now it was Kelvin Herrera's turn. Things starting out all right, with a strike out of Andrew Benintendi.
It was on to Cam Bedrosian.
His third pitch Bichette hit 380 feet over the left-field fence to tie it.
Up steps Delmonico.
He also turned around the third pitch he saw, cranking his 441 feet over the fence in right-center to give St. Louis its first lead of the game.
It was1-1 in the fourth when the Wolfpack grabbed the lead on run-scoring doubles from Peter Alonso and Daulton Varsho off Walkers starting pitcher Trevor Hildenberger.
A Miguel Sano RBI single off Hildenberger in the sixth made it 4-1.
Hildenberger worked 5.2 innings, giving up four runs on seven hits.
Reyes Moronta (0.2 IP), Bobby Poyner (0.1), Phil Maton (1.1) and John Curtiss (1.0) combined to shut out Ann Arbor the rest of the way.
Maton notched his second win of the season.
Curtiss collected his first save of 2022.

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Record: 14-6, 1st, 2 GA Kansas City
St. Louis hammered Noah Syndergaard for six runs in the top of the fifth inning to pound its way to an 8-4 win over Ann Arbor at Crosley Field (1958).
Down 2-0, the River Walkers got things going against Syndergaard when starting pitcher Brendan Spagnuolo, making his first start of the season in the majors, drew a one-out walk.
Syndergaard struck out Byron Buxton, his 10th K of the game, but it soon fell aprt.
Tyler Esplin remained red-hot with a double which scored Spagnuolo.
An Andrew Benintendi single then tied it.
Rhys Hoskins was issued an intentional walk, putting two runners aboard.
Syndergaard then had trouble finding the strike zone against Bo Bichette, as another walk loaded the bases.
Nicky Delmonico followed with a grand slam to put St. Louis up 6-2.
The Wolfpack's Peter Alonso smacked a two-run homer off Spagnuolo in the fifth, drawing his team within 6-4.
But those would be the final runs for Ann Arbor.
Spagnuolo exited after the fifth, having allowed four runs on three hits. He struck out two but walked five.
Eduardo Jimenez (1.2 IP), Bobby Poyner (0.1), Reyes Moronta (1.2) and Felipe Vazquez (0.1) combined to shut the Wolfpack out the rest of the way.
The Walkers added insurance runs in the seventh -- RBI single from Bichette -- and eighth -- solo homer from J.T. Realmuto -- to extend their lead to 8-4.

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Record: 14-7, 1st, 1 GA Kansas City
Garrett Hampson led off the bottom of the 10th inning with a double off St. Louis reliever Eduardo Jimenez and scored on a Greg Allen sacrifice fly to give Ann Arbor a 3-2 win over Crosley Field (1958).
With the win, the Wolfpack salvaged the final game of the three-game series with the leaders in the National League South Division.
Allen's game-winning sacrifice fly came off Brad Hand who hand just entered the game for St. Louis.
Down 2-1, Ann Arbor tied it in the bottom of the eighth after Walkers starter Aaron Nola had exited the game.
The first four batters reliever Phil Maton reached based.

Dexter Fowler led off with a single and moved to third on a Brett Phillips double.
Peter Alonso then drew a walk to load the bases.
Hampson followed with a single, scoring Fowler with the tying run.
Ann Arbor starter Mitch Keller worked five innings, allowing two runs on five hits before exiting with an undisclosed injury.
It took seven relievers to handle the next six innings for the Wolfpack, all of which were scoreless.
Edwin Diaz, however, did the bulk of the work taking care of the final three innings -- allowing just one hit -- to earn his first win of the season.
With the loss, St. Louis wasted a strong effort by Nola as the right-handered allowed just one run on two hits in seven innings. He struck out five and walked none.

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Record: 15-7, 1st, 1.5 GA Kansas City
Kyle Hendricks tossed the first shutout of the season for St. Louis, tossing a four-hitter to lead the River Walkers to a 4-0 win over Twin Cities at Busch Stadium (1997).
Hendricks remained one of the top pitchers in the Midwest Baseball League for the young 2022 season, improving to 5-0 in a game where he struck out seven and walked two.
Home runs helped provide all of the St. Louis runs.
Bo Bichette hit a two-run homer off Twin Cities starting pitcher Joe Gatto in the bottom of the second inning.
Rhys Hoskins smacked a bomb, also worth two runs, in the seventh off Xavier Cedeno.

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Record: 15-8, 1st, 1.5 GA Kansas City
Anthony Santander led off the top of the 11th inning with a double and scored on a Colton Welker ground out to help give Twin Cities a 2-1 extra inning win over St. Louis at Busch Stadium (1997).
Santader's double came off reliever John Curtiss.

Curtiss still was on the mound when he scored.
Snow Cats starting pitcher and five relievers combined to limit the River Walkers to just one hit over the 11 innings.
That hit was a solo homer from Nicky Delmonico in the bottom of the second inning.
Reyes struck out eight and walked two.

Xavier Diaz (0.0 IP), Jario Diaz (1.0), Tobias Myers (1.0), Kyle Nelson (1.0) and Thyago Viera combined to limit St. Louis without a hit the rest of the way.
Walkers starter Alex Faedo was maybe a little bit better than Reyes, throwing seven scoreless innings before walking pinch-hitter Eloy Jimenez to lead off the eighth.
Jimenez, however, came around to score.
Felipe Vazquez relieved Faedo and saw Jean Carlos Arias get down bunt.
First baseman Rhys Hoskins decided to go for the runner at second, but the throw was late.

A Lucius Fox single than loaded the bases and brought Phil Maton into the game
Maton retired Johnathan India for the second out.
Left-hander Bobby Poyner then got the ball and gave up a fly ball to Santander which brought Jimenez home.
Faedo ended up going seven innings, allowing one run on two hits. He struck out eight and walked four.

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Record: 15-9, 1st, 0.5 GB Kansas City
Twin Cities rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to defeat St. Louis 6-1 at Busch Stadium (1997).
Down 1-0, Anthony Santander tied it with a one-out homer off River Walkers starting pitcher Trevor Hildenberger in the fourth inning.
The Snow Cats took the lead an inning later when Jose Marmolejos led off with a double.
Marmolejos scored on another double, this one coming with one out by pinch-hitter Victor Reyes, to tie it.
Jean Carlos Arias followed with a single, putting Twin Cities in front 3-1.
Taylor Lindsey hit a two-out solo homer off Bobby Poyner in the seventh, extending that advantage to 4-1.
Bradley Zimmer scored on a Colton Welker doule off Felipe Vazquez in the ninth to push it to 5-1.
Cats starting pitcher Michael Shawaryn went four innings, allowing one run on four his. He struck out four and walked two.
Steve Cishek handled the next two innings, while Jake Carkuff took care of the seventh, eighth and first out of the ninth.
Xavier Cedeno finished it out, by which time Twin Cities led 6-1.