CINCINNATI -- None of the first 19 batters to face Brandon Sproat in his Major League debut on Sunday recorded hits. Then the next three Reds in a row all did, dampening an otherwise encouraging outing for the rookie.

That’s not to say Sproat was flawless before allowing those hits; he walked four batters over the first five innings at Great American Ball Park, allowing one run on a sacrifice fly. But that was the only damage against Sproat until Noelvi Marte dumped a clean single into right field to break up Sproat’s early no-hit bid with one out in the sixth. The next batter, Elly De La Cruz, ripped an RBI double to the gap, and Austin Hays followed with a hard-hit run-scoring single.

Sproat did manage to strike out the next two batters, finishing with seven punchouts in six innings.

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