St. Louis River Walkers 2020 season: Striving to get back on top

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Record: 89-67, 3rd, 4.5 GB Des Moines
Brandon Moss hit a pinch-hit grand slam off Mason McCullough to highlight a six-run eighth inning as St.Louis powered to a 6-4 win over Springfield at Olympic Stadium (Montreal).
Down 3-0, St. Louis got it going quickly in the eighth when Nicky Delmonico greeted reliever Taylor Williams with a lead-off homer.
It didn't stop there.
Tucker Barnhart and Will Benson both drew walks.
An error by Williams on a ball hit by Adienny Hechavarria then loaded the bases.
A pinch-hitter, Moss then deposited the second pitch he saw from reliever Eduardo Paredes 367-feet away over the left-field fence for a 5-3 lead.
The River Walkers added another run in the inning, Delmonico batting for the second time coming through with a run-scoring single off David Phelps.
St. Louis starting pitcher Kyle Hendricks worked six innings, allowing three runs on six hits.
Five relievers followed him to the mound, but Grant Dayton did the bulk of the work with a scoreless eighth and ninth inning to earn his fourth save.

Jake Diekman retired a pair of batters to end the seventh, setting himself up for his second win.
The late scoring from the Walkers ruined a good start for Springfield's Pablo Lopez, who tossed 5.1 scoreless innings during which he allowed five hits.

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MBL news: Week 22 report

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Record: 90-67, 3rd, 3.5 GB Des Moines
Rookie Bo Bichette was 4 for 4 with three doubles, a homer, two runs scored and four RBIs to help lead St. Louis to a 12-5 win over Des Moines at LaBatt Stadium.
Rhys Hoskins had an RBI double off Harvesters starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez in the first inning and Bichette drove in one with the first of his three doubles in the second to stake the River Walkers to a 2-1 lead.
St. Louis expanded its lead to 6-2 with four runs in the fourth. Bichette drove in two with a two-run homer off Rodriguez, while Andrew Benintendi hit his 38th long ball of the season, a solo shot.
Des Moines did draw within 7-4 with a pair of runs in the fifth inning and another in the seventh.
However, the Walkers broke it back open with a five-run eighth. Bichette drove in the first run with a double. Tucker Barnhart did the rest with a grand slam off Dane Dunning.
St. Louis starting pitcher Luis Gohara continued his run of strong outing, but the ending was not positive.
Gohara allowed three runs on five hits over 5.1 innings to earn his 14th victory, but left in the sixth inning with an undisclosed injury.
Six relievers combined to close out the win for the Walkers, with only Tony Gonsolin going a complete inning.

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Record: 90-68, 3rd, 4.5 GB Des Moines -- eliminated
Austin Hayes drove in all four of his team's run and Dallas Keuchel allowed just one run over six innings to lead Des Moines to a 4-1 win over St. Louis at LaBatt Park.
WIth the loss, Des Moines magic number to eliminate the RIver Walkers from playoff contention dropped to one.
The Harvesters went up 1-0 in the third inning when a Hayes RBI single off St. Louis starting pitcher Aaron Nola scored Khalil Lee, who had led off the inning with a single and stole second base.
An inning later, Hayes cranked his 28th homer of the season, a three-run shot off Nola, to put Des Moines up 4-0.
Keuchel was strong through six innings to earn his 14th win of the season. He allowed four hits while striking out two and walking one.
A trio of relievers -- Bryan Garcia, Leo Vazquez and Jandel Gustave -- all worked an inning apiece to close it out. Gustave earned his 38th save.
St. Louis did have its chances, but left the bases loaded in the seventh and ninth innings.

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Record: 90-69, 3rd, 5.5 GB Des Moines
It's offiicial. There will be no postseason for the St. Louis River Walkers in 2020 following a 3-2 loss to Des Moines at LaBatt Park which eliminated them from playoff contention.
With the loss, St. Louis dropped to 90-69 and trails the National League South Division leading Harvesters by 5.5 games with four games remaining.
It was Rafael Devers who drove the final stake into the Walkers, with a two-run home run off Chaz Roe in the seventh inning to wipe out a 2-1 deficit.
Down 1-0, St. Louis got RBI singles from Andrew Beintentdi in the third inning and Ender Inciarte to take a 2-1 lead.
Des Moines starting pitcher Zach Wheeler allowed two runs on five hits over five innings.
Four relievers -- Gabriel Moya, Rory Stevens, Jamie Barria and Jandel Gustave -- all pitched an inning apiece to close it out.
Stevens earned his second win of the season. The save was No. 39 for Gustave.

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Despite a 5-3 loss to Milwaukee, the Madison Muskies have wrapped up another National League North Division championship.
With a record of 93-66, the Muskies own a four-game over the Chicago G-Men with three games remaining.
Madison will be hard-pressed to win home-field advantage in the NL, as it trails NL South leader Des Moines by two games with three left.

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MBL report: September Player and Pitchers of the Month

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MBL news: September Rookies of the Month

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MBL news: AL leaders end of September

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MBL news: NL leaders end of September

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River Walkers news: Statistics for September

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Player of the Month: Andrew Benintendi, outfielder: In 27 games, Beninendi batted .321 with seven home runs and 21 RBIs. He scored 14 runs, while posting an on-base percentage of .407 and a slugging percentage of .585.
Starting pitcher of the Month: Luis Gohara: In six games, Gohara went 3-1 with a 2.86 ERA. He pitched a total of 34.2 innings, during which he struck out 28 and posted a WHIP of 1.47.
Relief pitcher of the Month: Jake Diekman: The veteran left-hander got into 11 games and posted a record of 1-0 with an ERA of 1.59. He pitched 5.2 innings, during which he struck out eight batters and posted a WHIP of 1.59.

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Walkers news: Team organzational report for Oct. 1

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The St. Louis River Walkers have learned that left-handed starting pitcher Luiz Gohara will be sidelined up for six months with a torn rotator cuff.
Gohara, who left a Sept. 28 game against Des Moines with an injury, had steadily improved throughout the season and ended the campaign with a 14-6 record and 3.59 ERA.

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The Indianapolis Racers wrapped up the American League West Division title with a 6-2 win over Evansville.
With a record of 93-66, the Racers own a four-game lead over Evansville with three games to go.
The Racers will have no chance at home-field advantage in the American League playoffs, as with a record of 101-59 Columbus owns a sizeable advantage in terms of the best record in the MBL.

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A 2-0 win over Springfield enabled the Des Moines Harvesters to sew up the final berth in the Midwest Baseball League postseason, as they clinched the National League South Division title.
With a record of 96-65, the Harvesters own a two-game advantage over Cedar Rapids with a day to go in the season.
As far as the best record in the NL, Des Moines leads NL North champion Madison by one game. Both teams have one game remaining.

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Record: 93-69, 3rd, 4 GB Des Moines
On the final game of the season, Rhys Hoskins had quite a ball game going 2 for 3 with two homers and seven RBIs as St. Louis defeated Kansas City 7-3 at Busch Stadium (1997).
With the win, the River Walkers swept a three-game series with the Pit Masters to finish the season 93-69, still landing them four games in back of first-place Des Moines in the National League West Division.
It was a game where the Walkers tried to use everyone on their roster, and they almost got it done.
Hoskins first homer, a three-run shot in the third inning off Pit Masters staring pitcher Chance Adams, put St.Louis up 3-1.
His grand slam an inning later off Rogelio Armenteros expanded that advantage to 7-1.
St. Louis used 10 pitchers in the game.

Manuel Soliman, who recorded the final two outs of the second inning and all of the third, earned the victory.

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MBL: Final standings

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MBL news: Final AL leaders

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MBL news: Final NL leaders