 for only his second homer while batting right-handed. Fowler is batting .179 overall.''We've got to keep him going and see that million-dollar smile again,'' interim manager Mike Shildt said.Sam Tuivailala (3-3) escaped a two-on threat in the 10th. Bud Norris got his 19th save in 22 chances, one night after he took a loss.Homer Bailey returned from his latest injury and gave one of his best performances of the season, allowing a pair of runs and striking out a season-high eight batters in 6 2/3 innings. Bailey has been sidelined since late May by a sore right knee.Bailey was so ineffective before the injury that the Reds considered moving him to the bullpen. He's 1-7 in 13 starts this season. He called his start Tuesday encouraging.''I'll go back and look at it and see the mistakes I made and just keep plugging away,'' Bailey said.Jose Martinez singled home a run in the fourth and Yairo Munoz doubled home another in the seventh.ROTATION SWITCHThe Cardinals optioned Poncedeleon to Triple-A Memphis, opening a roster spot for Gomber.IN THE INTERIMThe Cardinals are 4-4 since Shildt became interim manager. The Reds are 41-42 under interim manager Jim Riggleman.BREAKING BADWith runners on first and third and two outs in the third inning, Cincinnati's Jose Peraza got caught wandering too far off first base and was trapped in a rundown. Catcher Curt Casali broke for the plate and was thrown out, ending the threat.FITTING TUNEThe Reds played ''We Didn't Start The Fire'' during the alarm delay in the seventh inning.Fowler's 12 career homers against the Reds are his most against any opponent. ... The Cardinals are 6-6 in extra innings. The Reds are 5-7. ... Votto's single in the seventh snapped an 0-for-12 slump that tied his season high. ... Billy Hamilton ended an 0-for-18 slump.TRAINER'S ROOMCardinals: Carlos Martinez threw in the outfield, the latest step in his recovery from a strained right oblique. He could return to the rotation next week if his recovery continues on schedule.Reds: RH reliever Jackson Stephenson went on the 10-day DL with torn cartilage in his right knee, which began bothering him over the weekend. There are no immediate plans for surgery. ... Second baseman Scooter Gennett was back in the lineup a day after illness limited him to pinch hitting.UP NEXTCardinals: Jack Flaherty (4-4) makes his fourth career start against the Reds. He made the shortest start of his career last Sept. 19 at Great American Ball Park, lasting only two innings.Reds: Sal Romano (5-8) has faced the Cardinals twice, with the Reds losing both games.---More baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
Cards hope to strike gold again with Gomber vs. Reds 3h ago• 3 min read Austin Gomber has exactly zero career major league starts, so the St. Louis Cardinals won't quite know what they'll have when he takes the mound Tuesday night against the Cincinnati Reds.Homer Bailey has made 204 career starts, yet the Reds still don't quite know what they'll get when their long-struggling former ace opposes Gomber at Great American Ball Park.Then again, the Cardinals didn't know what to expect from rookie right-hander Daniel Poncedeleon on Monday night, and all he did was make one of the most remarkable debut starts in major league history.Poncedeleon pitched seven no-hit innings before being taken out after throwing 116 pitches, only to watch as the Cardinals lost the no-hitter on pinch-hitter Phillip Ervin's single off Jordan Hicks in the eighth. Then, they lost the game 2-1 in the ninth on Eugenio Suarez's two-out solo homer and Dilson Herrera's pinch-hit RBI single off Bud Norris."Tough loss," Cardinals interim manager Mike Shildt said, in an understatement.Only three other rookies in the expansion era that began in 1961 have taken a no-hitter deeper into their debut game than Poncedeleon did. His effort was all the more remarkable given that a year ago, he was healing after taking a line drive off the side of his head in a Triple-A game -- an injury that hospitalized him for three weeks and nearly cost him his life."I don't know if words can describe that (performance)," Shildt said. "Talk about magical. That's what's magical about our game, what's special about our game, (when you) see stories like that. A great job and I wish it could have been a better ending for him." The Reds stopped a four-game losing streak and beat the Cardinals for the fourth time in five games after ending a 13-game losing streak to them only last month."Really big hits by some guys late," Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman said. "It's certainly a morale booster ... when the season is so long and you play so many games." Now, the Cardinals (50-50), in the unaccustomed role of being closer to last place in the NL Central than they are to first place, will send out a pitcher with no career starts for the second night in a row.With top starter Carlos Martinez out with an oblique strain, and the Cardinals wanting to use a left-handed starter against the Reds, they'll try to get as many innings as they can from Gomber. He's been used mostly as a left-handed specialist this season, pitching only 14 1/3 innings in 15 Cardinals games, but is 7-3 with a 3.42 ERA in 12 games with Triple-A Memphis -- all but one of them starts.Gomber, who threw 80 pitches in his last start for Memphis, will be the first left-hander to start for St. Louis this season. He last pitched for the Cardinals on July 3, working two-thirds of an inning against Arizona.Bailey, who's thrown two no-hitters in the majors, began the season as the Reds' No.1 starter but never pitched like it, going a dismal 1-7 with a 6.68 ERA while allowing at least three earned runs in each of his final nine starts. He permitted 16 earned runs in 13 2/3 innings over his last three starts, the last coming May 28.The 32-year-old Bailey was later sent to Triple-A Louisville to rehabilitate a right knee injury and get straightened out, and he had a 2-2 record with a 4.78 ERA in seven games, six of them starts."The report was really positive on what he did," Riggleman said. "He had a lot of strikeouts (28 in 37 2/3 innings). In the bigger picture, you want to get outs. But that was something he was doing a lot. He wasn't getting strikeouts (before). It may indicate he's fine-tuning a put-away pitch for strike three." The Reds are paying Bailey $21 million this season, with $23 million committed to next season, and they'd like to start getting some return on what so far has been one of the worst contracts ever given a starting pitcher.Since signing a six-year, $105 million contract before the 2014 season, Bailey is 18-25 and missed most of the 2015 and 2016 seasons with injuries. When he has pitched, he hasn't had an ERA lower than 5.56 since 2014 (9-5, 3.71 ERA).With Bailey back, the Reds will go at least temporarily with a six-man rotation -- right-hander Sal Romano (5-8) starts Wednesday -- though veteran right-hander Matt Harvey (5-6) is likely to be dealt before the July 31 deadline for trading without waivers.
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