From emergency surgery to near historic no-hitter
CINCINNATI — Daniel Poncedeleon wasn’t going to let a sore neck ruin his major league debut, not after all he’s come through in the last year. The Cardinals’ determined rookie shook it off and made St. Louis history.
Poncedeleon was sensational 14 months after suffering a severe head injury, throwing no-hit ball for seven innings Monday night before Eugenio Suarez led the Cincinnati Reds’ rally in the ninth for a 2-1 victory.
The 26-year-old right-hander was hit on the right temple by a line drive while pitching for Triple-A Memphis on May 9 last year, 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. With 10 family members cheering from the stands, he walked three and struck out three , threw 116 pitches and gave way to a pinch-hitter in the eighth with St. Louis up 1-0.
“I don’t know if words can describe that,” interim manager Mike Shildt said. “It’s what’s magical about this game and what we love about this game — stories like that.”
Poncedeleon prayed for calmness before his debut, went to the bullpen to warm up and hurt his neck on one pitch.
“I tweaked my neck in the bullpen and had a hard time looking toward home plate,” he said. “I was a little nervous then.”
The neck was fine once the game began. Poncedeleon joined the Dodgers’ Ross Stripling as the only major leaguers to throw at least seven no-hit innings in their debuts since 1908.
Given his high pitch count, Shildt had no thought about leaving him in.
“We weren’t in a situation where he would have been able to finish that game with a no-hitter,” Shildt said. “It was his time.”
Jordan Hicks gave up a one-out single up the middle by pinch-hitter Phillip Ervin in the eighth for Cincinnati’s first hit.
Suarez’s two-out, solo homer off Bud Norris (3-3) tied it 1-1. 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. Jared Hughes (3-3) pitched the ninth.
“We don’t mind waiting until there two outs in the ninth to score some runs,” said Tucker Barnhart, who singled to help load the bases. “It makes it a little nerve-wracking on the bench.”
