The big news from the Chicago Cubs-St. Louis Cardinals game Monday night was the near-no-hitter of visiting pitcher Kyle Hendricks.

Overlooked might be Ben Zobrist's second-inning home run for the Cubs, who beat the Cardinals 4-1. The homer gave the Eureka native 15 this season, his highest total in four years. And at 422 feet, it was Zobrist's longest homer this season.

Might Avanti's Gondolas be a source of Zobrist's power surge?

A pregame photograph of Zobrist in the bowels of Busch Stadium, cradling a box of food from the Peoria-based restaurant chain, circulated widely on social media Monday night. The delivery came courtesy of Steve Scheuer, a photojournalist at WGN-TV in Chicago who was covering the game.

Scheuer used to work in Peoria, at WMBD-TV, and is a son-in-law of Avanti's owner Albert Zeller.

"When he first came to the Cubs, we interviewed him at spring training," Scheuer stated about Zobrist in an email. "He said the two things he has to have when he comes home to Eureka are Monical's Pizza and a Gondola from Avanti's. I told him I could hook him up with the latter."

Zobrist was reminded of that last week, when the Cubs played in Milwaukee.

Scheuer covered that series at Miller Park. WGN sports anchor Dan Roan — who once worked at WCIA-TV in Champaign — said jokingly to Zobrist that if he did an interview, Scheuer would get him a Gondola.

Zobrist said he'd love one, according to Scheuer, who graduated from Illinois State University.

On his way to St. Louis for the game Monday, Scheuer stopped at an Avanti's in Bloomington-Normal and picked up 10 Gondolas. Apparently, they were none the worse for wear by the time they got to Busch.

"Ben was surprised and really happy when I gave them to him," stated Scheuer, who emailed from the Busch press box during the game. "He said, 'Can I take them?' I said, 'I didn't bring them for me.' Then he dashed into the clubhouse."

Scheuer said he photographed a feature WGN did earlier this season about Zobrist and his father, Tom. The TV crew visited Eureka High School and talked with townspeople about Ben.

"He and his family are such good people," Scheuer wrote.

No word on whether Zobrist shared the Gondolas with his teammates. Hendricks has been having a stellar season, but who knows if Gondola power might almost have helped propel him to no-hit immortality?