Cody Ponce wasn’t in the game long enough to break a good sweat, but in the end, that little detail didn’t matter.

He pitched only to the Chicago Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez, two of the best players in the National League, in the 11th inning of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2-1 loss Sunday at Wrigley Field.

Ponce retired Rizzo on a fly to right field, but Baez singled sharply up the middle to end the game, driving in gift runner David Bote. Ponce was the losing pitcher and the Pirates’ losing streak reached four in a row.

Not much reason to call home, except for this: It was Ponce’s major league debut.

“Something I’ll never be able to forget,” Ponce said of finally reaching the majors five years after he was the Milwaukee Brewers’ second-round draft choice. He was the Double-A player the Pirates acquired from the Brewers last year for Jordan Lyles.

The only missing element was the person he most important wanted to see: his mother, Jennifer, who died Dec. 1, 2017, of brain cancer.

“It was a little difficult at the same time,” he said. “I wasn’t able to share it with one person in particular, but it was a whirlwind of emotions.”

Ponce wore special cleats for the occasion, with the skyline of California — he was born in Pomona — on one side and the Pittsburgh skyline on the other.

His mother’s name was emblazoned on the cleats, with a brain cancer ribbon on the heel of both shoes. He said he’ll never wear them again.

“Those cleats meant a lot to me,” he said. “I knew that was the only day that they were going to be worn, no matter what, so those things will be put up for the rest of my life.”

He said he called his father, Joe, who didn’t mind too much that the Pirates lost.

“He just (said) he was proud of me, no matter what,” Ponce said. “I actually got a great text message from my sister (Devan), which was probably the one that hit home the most.”

The text read: “You know what? No matter what happened, you’re still a winner in my heart, because you won and you were able to make your dream a reality. So, for you and our family, you’ll always be a winner, because you did what you set out to do.”

Gift runner victim

Ponce was the victim of the new MLB rule that places a runner on second base to start every inning beyond the ninth.

He said he understands why the rule is there, but he’s not in love with it.

He likes it because it speeds up the game and is meant to eliminate those 17-inning marathons that tax a pitching staff.

“So in this situation, I think it’s great for the bullpen,” he said. “I think it’s tough as a pitcher because you’re coming into a situation where every team expects the pitcher to fail.

“So, when you come out on top, it’s a great success. But at the same time, you don’t want to lose a game because you have a guy on second that wasn’t even yours to start with. So that’s where it kind of gets screwed up a little bit.”

Tucker in center field

Cole Tucker started in center field and batted leadoff Monday night, but Shelton said he will still be used in the infield this season.

“One of the things we talked about is his versatility, the fact that we do have some other infielders right now,” Shelton said. “We will, 100 percent, keep his versatility. His versatility is important to us. Right now, his opportunity to get at-bats is more in the outfield.”

Still experimenting

Shelton likes to tinker with his lineup, and he continued to do so Monday, giving Colin Moran, his best hitter at the moment, the night off and moving Kevin Newman to second base.

“You’re going to see us play multiple people, be able to get looks at multiple people,” he said. “Right now, we’re in a stretch of playing 17 in a row and we’re going night-day, night-day, which is a little bit taxing.

“We had a left-hander (pitching for the Cubs on Sunday) and a left-hander (Monday). It gives us the opportunity to get some different people in there.

To say we will have an actual set lineup, I wouldn’t say that. I would think we will continue to see guys (moving), some guys hitting in certain spots and other guys continue to bounce around.”

Welcome back, Derek

When Shelton returned to Minneapolis — where he was the bench coach the past two seasons — he was greeted with a gift from the Twins clubhouse staff: a bottle of Whiskey Pig 12 rye bourbon.

“I did get a nice bottle of bourbon from the clubhouse staff,” he said. “Anytime you get a nice bottle of bourbon, that’s always nice.”

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