Cardinals lose despite Poncedeleon’s strong start

NATIONAL LEAGUE REDS 2, CARDINALS 1

CINCINNATI — St. Louis starter Daniel Poncedeleon made a sensational debut 14 months after suffering a severe head injury, throwing no-hit ball for seven innings Monday night before Eugenio Suarez led the Cincinnati Reds’ two-out rally in the ninth for a 2-1 victory over the Cardinals.

Suarez’s two-out, solo home run off Bud Norris (3-3) tied the game 1-1. The closer then loaded the bases on two singles and a walk, and pinch-hitter Dilson Herrera singled to end the Reds’ losing streak at four games.

Jared Hughes (3-3) pitched the ninth for the victory.

The late 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 Class AAA Memphis on May 9, 2017, fracturing his skull and causing bleeding in the brain. He had emergency surgery followed by months of slow recovery.

Poncedeleon was one of the top pitchers in the Pacific Coast League when St. Louis called him up Monday to help their injury-depleted rotation. He walked 3 and struck out 3, threw 116 pitches and gave way to a pinch-hitter in the eighth with St. Louis up 1-0.

Jordan Hicks allowed a one-out single up the middle by pinch-hitter Phillip Ervin in the eighth for Cincinnati’s first hit. Suarez’s tying home run was only Cincinnati’s second hit. It was Norris’ third blown save in 21 chances.

DODGERS 7, PHILLIES 6

Max Muncy, Yasmani Grandal, Chris Taylor and Joc Pederson hit solo home runs and Alex Verdugo scored the tiebreaking run on a wild pitch in the top

INTERLEAGUE Pittsburgh 7, Cleveland 0 (6)

of the ninth inning, lifting visiting Los Angeles over Philadelphia.

DIAMONDBACKS 7, CUBS 1

Paul Goldschmidt hit a home run and Patrick Corbin pitched seven strong innings to pick up his first victory in seven weeks, leading visiting Arizona over Chicago.

PADRES 3, METS 2

Jacob deGrom’s winless streak reached five games as the major league ERA leader was hurt by a pair of errors behind him, and visiting San Diego beat New York.

BRAVES 12, MARLINS 1

Freddie Freeman hit his 17th home run and also doubled for visiting Atlanta, which totaled 16 hits to beat Miami.

BREWERS 6, NATIONALS 1

Christian Yelich had a base-loaded triple and Jhoulys Chacin had another strong start to help host Milwaukee beat Washington.

AMERICAN LEAGUE RAYS 7, YANKEES 6

Jake Bauers hit a three-run home run and host Tampa Bay beat Luis Severino and New York. The Yankees loaded the bases against Jose Alvarado with one out in the ninth when Brett Gardner singled, Aaron Judge walked and Giancarlo Stanton was intentionally walked. After Aaron Hicks hit into a force out at the plate, Alvarado got his first save when Gary Sanchez grounded out, a play where Hicks beat the play at second but the Yankees catcher was thrown out at first after jogging most of the way there.

RED SOX 5, ORIOLES 3

Rick Porcello scattered six hits over six scoreless innings, Mitch Moreland hit a home run and visiting Boston beat Baltimore in a rain-delayed matchup. Andrew Benintendi (Arkansas Razorbacks) drove in two runs for the AL East-leading Red Sox.

TWINS 8, BLUE JAYS 3

Logan Morrison hit a home run and had three RBI, Max Kepler added a two-run blast and visiting Minnesota beat Toronto.

ATHLETICS 15, RANGERS 3

Jonathan Lucroy hit a grand slam off his former battery mate and the isiting Oakland beat the Texas Rangers for its 24th victory in 31 games.

TIGERS 5, ROYALS 4

Jim Adduci delivered a two-run double in the ninth and scored the goahead run on former Arkansas Razorback James McCann’s double as visiting Detroit rallied for a victory over Kansas City.

INTERLEAGUE PIRATES 7, INDIANS 0 (6)

Josh Harrison hit a three-run home run and Gregory Polanco had a two-run triple off Corey Kluber in his return, and visiting Pittsburgh beat Cleveland in a six-inning, rain-shortened game for its 10th consecutive victory.