Cards righty stars in debut
St. Louis starter Daniel Poncedeleon made a sensational debut 14 months after suffering a severe head injury, throwing no-hit ball for seven innings last night before Eugenio Suarez led the Reds’ twoout rally in the ninth for a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals in Cincinnati.
Suarez’ two-out, solo homer off Bud Norris (3-3) tied it at 1. The closer then loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk, and pinch-hitter Dilson Herrera singled to end the Reds’ losing streak at four games.
The rally overshadowed Poncedeleon’s incredible comeback. The 26-year-old right-hander was hit on the right temple by a line drive while pitching for TripleA Memphis on May 9 last year, fracturing his skull and causing bleeding in the brain. He had emergency surgery followed by months of recovery.
He walked three, struck out three, threw 116 pitches and gave way to a pinchhitter in the eighth with St. Louis up 1-0.
Dodgers 7, Phillies 6 — Max Muncy, Yasmani Grandal, Chris Taylor and Joc Pederson hit solo homers, and Los Angeles beat host Philadelphia in a matchup of division leaders.
The Dodgers placed third baseman Justin Turner (strained groin) on the 10-day disabled, and will move newly acquired Manny Machado from shortstop to third.
Braves 12, Marlins 1 — Freddie Freeman hit his 17th homer and also doubled as Atlanta totaled 16 hits to beat host Miami. Freeman is batting .469 with five homers in eight games against Miami this year.
Padres 3, Mets 2 — Jacob deGrom’s winless streak reached five games as a pair of errors helped San Diego beat host New York in a matchup of teams with the worst records in the NL.
American League
Rays 7, Yankees 6 — Gary Sanchez failed to hustle on a pair of key plays, Jake Bauers hit a three-run homer and Tampa Bay beat Luis Severino and New York in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The Yankees loaded the bases against Jose Alvarado with one out in the ninth. After Aaron Hicks hit into a force out at the plate, Alvarado got his first save when Sanchez grounded out, a play where Hicks beat a force out at second but the Yankees catcher was thrown out at first after jogging most of the way there.
Severino (14-3) allowed a season-high seven runs and 11 hits in five innings.
The Rays put All-Star left-hander Blake Snell on the 10-day disabled list with fatigue in his throwing shoulder.
Twins 8, Blue Jays 3 — Logan Morrison homered and had three RBI, Max Kepler added a two-run blast and Minnesota beat host Toronto.
Interleague
Pirates 7, Indians 0 — Josh Harrison hit a three-run homer and Gregory Polanco had a tworun triple, and Pittsburgh beat host Cleveland for its 10th straight win in a six-inning, rain-shortened game following three delays that totaled 2 hours, 3 minutes.
Elsewhere in baseball — Milwaukee Brewers lefthanded starter Brent Suter will have Tommy John surgery and miss the rest of the season.