The story of the night in Cincinnati on Monday night was St. Louis Cardinals starter Daniel Poncedeleon's major league debut, but the Cincinnati Reds quickly turned that around. Just 14 months after suffering a career-threatening head injury in the minor leagues, Poncedeleon threw seven no-hit innings in his major league debut at Great American Ballpark. Despite not allowing a hit, he was pulled after needing 116 pitches to get through those seven innings.
The combined no-hit bid quickly came to an end when Jordan Hicks gave up a leadoff hit to begin the eighth inning. The lead then went away an inning later, as Dilson Herrera hit the walk-off RBI single for a 2-1 Reds' victory. Eugenio Suarez also went deep in the final inning, as Cincinnati spoiled the tremendous outing from the right-hander.
Poncedeleon struck out three and walked three, but stayed around the strike zone a lot throughout night, with 75 strikes of his 116 pitches. Bud Norris would then blow things in the ninth to suffer his third loss, surrendering all of the late-game damage.
The 26-year-old Cardinals' starter was hit in the head with a line drive on May 9th of last season while playing in Triple-A Memphis. He suffered a fractured skull, which caused bleeding in the brain. That required emergency surgery and Poncedeleon took several months to recover. He was taken out for a pinch-hitter in the top of the eighth inning on Monday, before Hicks gave up the Reds' first hit to Phillip Ervin. Norris's tough outing gave him his third blown save in 21 chances.
Matt Carpenter stayed hot with two hits, as he is now 14-for-28 in his past eight games. That included a six-game homer streak that came to an end in Sunday's loss to the Chicago Cubs. With the loss, St. Louis drops back to .500 and will continue their series in Cincinnati on Tuesday night.
The combined no-hit bid quickly came to an end when Jordan Hicks gave up a leadoff hit to begin the eighth inning. The lead then went away an inning later, as Dilson Herrera hit the walk-off RBI single for a 2-1 Reds' victory. Eugenio Suarez also went deep in the final inning, as Cincinnati spoiled the tremendous outing from the right-hander.
Poncedeleon struck out three and walked three, but stayed around the strike zone a lot throughout night, with 75 strikes of his 116 pitches. Bud Norris would then blow things in the ninth to suffer his third loss, surrendering all of the late-game damage.
The 26-year-old Cardinals' starter was hit in the head with a line drive on May 9th of last season while playing in Triple-A Memphis. He suffered a fractured skull, which caused bleeding in the brain. That required emergency surgery and Poncedeleon took several months to recover. He was taken out for a pinch-hitter in the top of the eighth inning on Monday, before Hicks gave up the Reds' first hit to Phillip Ervin. Norris's tough outing gave him his third blown save in 21 chances.
Matt Carpenter stayed hot with two hits, as he is now 14-for-28 in his past eight games. That included a six-game homer streak that came to an end in Sunday's loss to the Chicago Cubs. With the loss, St. Louis drops back to .500 and will continue their series in Cincinnati on Tuesday night.
