ST. LOUIS -- Making his regular-season debut for the Reds against the Cardinals on Sunday, Jon Moscot really wanted to finish the sixth inning. He was very close to getting there.
Before a 4-3 Reds loss to the Cards where he got the no-decision, Moscot had two outs in the sixth on groundouts. Then a 2-0 pitch inside to Greg Garcia grazed the hitter's leg, as was proven on a replay challenge by the Cardinals. Then Eric Fryer walked on five pitches and Moscot was taken out. Overall, the young hurler was pleased with the performance.
"I wanted to get that quality start and go deep in the game for the team," said Moscot, who threw 102 pitches. "But I felt good. One of the main things is that I really didn't walk anybody until that last inning. I got a little tired and the ball got away from me a little bit. I kept the ball down for the most part, a couple of mistakes and they took advantage of it. We played some great defense and hopefully next time we can come out on top."

In 5 2/3 innings, Moscot allowed three earned runs, six hits, a walk and the hit batter with two strikeouts. Jedd Gyorko hit a low liner for a solo homer to center field in the second inning and Matt Carpenter led off the fifth with a homer to right field.
"I thought he made some good adjustments. I would have loved to have seen him finish the sixth inning, because I was hoping we'd do something for him there in the top of the seventh and maybe get him a win," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "But he did a nice job, he pitched up to 100 pitches for us, he stretched, he's ready to go. It'll give us a shot of life in the rotation, which is terrific."
Moscot was limited to three starts last season after his callup from Triple-A Louisville. On June 15 at Detroit, he tried to make a diving tag in a rundown and separated his left non-throwing shoulder. Poised to win a rotation spot this spring, he sustained a strained left intercostal muscle and had to begin the season on the disabled list.
While giving himself something to build on, Moscot also displayed no nervousness over pitching in the big leagues for the first time since June.
"I think I got that out of the way in my first [big league] start, [when] I was very nervous," Moscot said. "This year, it's just about doing a job and getting things done and staying focused on what needs to get taken care of for me -- throwing strikes, keeping the ball down and keeping the team in the ballgame."