Poncedeleon dazzles in debut but Reds rally past Cardinals
CINCINNATI (AP) 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 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.
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 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. 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.
PIRATES 7, INDIANS 0, 6 INNINGS
CLEVELAND (AP) - Josh Harrison hit a three-run homer and Gregory Polanco had a two-run triple off Corey Kluber in his return, and Pittsburgh beat Cleveland in a six-inning, rain-shortened game for its 10th straight win.
The game was called following three rain delays that totaled 2 hours, 3 minutes. The first pitch was delayed 55 minutes, and a delay of 27 minutes followed in the third inning. The final delay was 41 minutes.
Kluber (12-6), starting for the first time since July 12 because of a sore right knee, was charged with seven runs - three earned - in four innings. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner gave up nine hits, struck out two and threw 72 pitches.
Trevor Williams (8-7) pitched six shutout innings for the Pirates, who have won 10 in a row for the first time since June 26-July 5, 2004.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Gary Sanchez failed to hustle on a pair of key plays, Jake Bauers hit a three-run homer and scored with some nifty baserunning, and 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 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.
Hicks limped off the field after his slide.
Severino (14-3) allowed a season-high seven runs and 11 hits in five-plus innings. The 24-year-old righty struck out eight to reach 504 for his career, joining Al Downing (644) and Lefty Gomez (511) as the only Yankees' pitchers to reach 500 strikeouts with the club before turning 25.
Matt Andriese (3-4), the second of seven pitchers in the Rays' bullpen day, allowed two unearned runs in 3 2/3 innings.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Max Muncy, Yasmani Grandal, Chris Taylor and Joc Pederson hit solo homers and Alex Verdugo scored the tiebreaking run on a wild pitch in the top of the ninth inning, lifting Los Angeles over Philadelphia in a matchup of division leaders.
Maikel Franco hit a pair of solo homers and Rhys Hoskins and Odubel Herrera also went deep for the Phillies.
Verdugo led off the ninth with a walk against closer Seranthony Dominguez (1-3). Pederson followed with a single. After Manny Machado struck out, Muncy walked. Verdugo scored when catcher Jorge Alfaro couldn't catch Dominguez's outside pitch. Dominguez exited after walking Grandal. Matt Kemp greeted Luis Garcia with an RBI single to make it 7-5.
Scott Alexander (2-0) tossed a scoreless inning for the win. Kenley Jansen finished for his 29th save in 32 chances. Franco hit Jansen's first pitch out to left for his 15th homer.
BALTIMORE (AP) - Rick Porcello scattered six hits over six scoreless innings, Mitch Moreland homered and Boston beat Baltimore in a rain-delayed matchup between the best and worst teams in the major leagues.
Andrew Benintendi drove in two runs for the AL East-leading Red Sox, who have won 15 of 17 to move 40 games over .500 (71-31) for the first time since 1949.
Porcello (12-4) struck out six and walked one in surpassing his win total of 2017. It was a nice bounce-back performance by the 2016 AL Cy Young Award winner, who allowed eight runs in two innings against Toronto in his last outing.
After Jonathan Schoop hit a two-run homer off Brandon Workman in the eighth, Craig Kimbrel gave up an RBI single to Caleb Joseph in the ninth but earned his 32nd save.
Kevin Gausman (4-8) gave up five runs, three hits and three walks for Baltimore. He came undone during Boston's four-run fifth, when he issued three straight walks - the last with the bases loaded - and a two-run double to Benintendi.
Since trading shortstop Manny Machado at the All-Star break, Baltimore has lost four in a row to bring the big leagues' worst record to 28-73. The Orioles are 1-10 against the Red Sox this season and 42 games out of first place in the AL East.
DIAMONDBACKS 7, CUBS 1
CHICAGO (AP) - Paul Goldschmidt homered and Patrick Corbin pitched seven strong innings to pick up his first win in seven weeks, leading Arizona over Chicago.
A.J. Pollack had two hits and Jeff Mathis added a two-run double as Arizona won for the fourth time in its last five games at Wrigley Field.
Corbin (7-4) gave up just one run and six hits while striking out nine for his first win since June 5. He was 0-2 with a 3.98 ERA in seven starts since.
Goldschmidt's homer was his 22nd on the season. He was 2 for 5 after going 1 for 12 with nine strikeouts in three games since the All-Star break. Goldschmidt came in with a .361 career average (48 for 133) against the Cubs, including a three-homer game at Wrigley Field last Aug. 3.
NEW YORK (AP) - Jacob deGrom's winless streak reached five games as the major league ERA leader was hurt by a pair of errors behind him, and San Diego beat New York in a matchup of teams with the worst records in the National League.
Rookie left-hander Joey Lucchesi (5-5), brought back from the minor leagues, baffled the Mets for the much of the evening with his churve, a combination curveball-chanegup at about 80 mph.
Manuel Margot hit a go-ahead triple in a two-run fifth inning after right fielder Jose Bautista dropped Christian Villanueva's fly ball. The Padres made it 3-1 in the sixth when Wil Myers doubled and scored when charging shortstop Amed Rosario let Eric Hosmer's chopper get under his glove and bounce into the outfield.
DeGrom (5-5), whose ERA rose from 1.68 to 1.71, allowed three runs - two earned - and five hits in eight innings, striking out 10 and walking two. He has given up three runs or fewer in 17 consecutive appearances and became the first pitcher to win fewer than seven games in his first 20 starts with an ERA below 2.00 since earned runs started being compiled in 1912, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
MIAMI (AP) - Freddie Freeman hit his 17th homer and also doubled for Atlanta, which totaled 16 hits to beat Miami.
Freeman is batting .469 with five homers in eight games against Miami this year. The Braves improved to 6-2 versus the Marlins and have outscored them 56-29.
Charlie Culberson had a career-high four hits, including a pair of doubles, and drove in three runs. Dansby Swanson hit his eighth homer.
Sean Newcomb (9-5) overcame a wobbly start to allow one run in six innings and earn his first win since June 16. He improved to 3-0 in three outings against Miami this season with an ERA of 1.00.
Jose Urena (2-10) permitted five runs in four innings. He fell to 0-8 at home.
MILWAUKEE (AP) - Christian Yelich had a bases-loaded triple and Jhoulys Chacin had another strong start to help Milwaukee beat Washington.
Erik Kratz drove in a pair of runs for the Brewers, who pulled within 2 games of NL Central-leading Chicago, which lost to Arizona 7-1. Milwaukee won for just the second time in 10 games.
Chacin (9-3) limited Washington to one run and two hits in 5 2/3 innings, a day after the Brewers used Kratz and utility player Hernan Perez in mop-up roles on the mound in an 11-2 drubbing by the Dodgers. Chacin struck out a season-high nine batters and didn't issue a walk.
The Nationals scored first when Daniel Murphy lined a home run to right field leading off the second against Chacin. The Brewers evened the score in the second on Kratz's sacrifice fly off Washington starter Gio Gonzalez (6-7).
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Jonathan Lucroy hit a grand slam off his former battery mate and surging Oakland beat Texas for its 24th win in 31 games.
Stephen Piscotty also went deep against Rangers starter Cole Hamels (5-9), a potential trade target for some contending teams even though he has struggled at home all season.
Oakland right-hander Brett Anderson (2-2) struck out six over six innings.
The A's (58-43) are a season-best 15 games over .500 after the 24-7 stretch since June 16 that is the best in the majors during that span. They are still third in the loaded AL West, behind Houston and Seattle.
TORONTO (AP) - Logan Morrison homered and had three RBIs, Max Kepler added a two-run blast and Minnesota beat Toronto, snapping a three-game losing streak.
Joe Mauer and Mitch Garver each had three hits and right-hander Adalberto Mejia (1-0) pitched 5 1/3 innings for his first win of the season as the Twins bounced back after being swept at Kansas City over the weekend.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a solo home run for the Blue Jays. Toronto swept a three-game series from Baltimore over the weekend but couldn't extend its winning streak against the Twins.
The Blue Jays gave right-hander Luis Santos his first career start because right-hander Marco Estrada remains sidelined with a strained left gluteal muscle. Santos (0-1) allowed one run and three hits in two innings.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Jim Adduci delivered a two-run double in the ninth and scored the go-ahead run on James McCann's double as Detroit to beat Kansas City.
After Adduci's double off Brandon Maurer tied it, Jason Hamel replaced Maurer and gave up a first-pitch RBI double to McCann, his third hit, to put the Tigers ahead.
Maurer (0-4) faced three batters in the ninth and all scored.
Alex Wilson (1-3) picked up the win. Shane Greene gave up a two-out single in the ninth before earning his 20th save in 23 chances.
WHITE SOX 5, ANGELS 3
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) - Jose Abreu homered and drove in two runs, leading Lucas Giolito and the Chicago White Sox past Los Angeles.
Shohei Ohtani hit a solo home run for the Angels, who squandered a 3-1 lead.
Leury Garcia had a go-ahead sacrifice fly in Chicago's three-run sixth. Los Angeles starter Jaime Barria (5-7) and reliever Hansel Robles combined to walk three batters and hit another with a pitch during the inning, in addition to allowing an infield single.
Abreu hit a solo shot in the first, only his second home run this month. The All-Star slugger also tied the game at 3 with a single in the sixth.
Giolito (7-8) gave up three runs and five hits in six innings. The Southern California native struck out five and walked four, one intentional.
Joakim Soria fanned Justin Upton with two on for his 15th save.
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