Ponce de Leon struck out three and worked around a walk in a scoreless inning of relief In Saturday's 10-1 win.
Ponce de Leon was called up from Triple-A Memphis for a spot start in the second game of a Sept. 1 doubleheader with the Reds, but he shifted to the bullpen once he had a chance to recover from the four-inning outing. So long as the Cardinals' continue to jockey for playoff positioning and the team's top five starters remain healthy, Ponce de Leon doesn't look like he'll be in line to re-enter the rotation. According to Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, manager Mike Shildt confirmed as much Saturday, when he provided an outline for the Cardinals' rest-of-season pitching schedule that didn't include Ponce de Leon.