Keider Montero didn’t just pitch the Tigers to a win Thursday - he put the whole night on his shoulders and carried Detroit to a series victory.
With Comerica Park buzzing in front of 31,777, the right-hander from Venezuela worked 6⅓ scoreless innings and handed the ball to manager AJ Hinch after finishing his latest shutdown job. The crowd let him know exactly how it felt about that performance.
Detroit finished off the Cleveland Guardians, 3-0, and stayed within a game of .500 at 60-61. The Tigers also moved to three games back of the White Sox in the AL Central and were in a virtual tie with the Rangers for the final wild-card spot when the game ended.
Montero was sharp from the start and never really let Cleveland breathe. He stranded Chase DeLauter at third with one out in the first, then rolled through the middle innings by retiring 10 straight hitters. In the sixth, he allowed a two-out single to DeLauter and walked Jose Ramirez, but he still found a way out, getting Nathaniel Lowe to fly to left.
By the time his night was done, Montero had thrown 19 outs without giving up a run and without recording a strikeout. His ERA dropped to 3.22.
The Tigers didn’t make life easy on Guardians lefty Parker Messick, either. Messick struck out six and gave up just three hits in 5⅔ innings, but Detroit found enough.
The first run came in the third, the only other inning besides the sixth when the Tigers managed to get runners on against him - and they loaded the bases. Javier Báez, making his first career start in left field, opened the frame with a hustle double after apparently baiting left fielder Jo Adell. Báez started his trip to first at a casual pace before turning on the jets and beating the throw into second.
Messick then hit Ben Malgeri and walked Gleyber Torres to fill the bases. Báez scored on Dillon Dingler’s ground out to third, but that was the extent of the damage. Messick shut the door by striking out Kevin McGonigle and Eduardo Valencia.
Valencia added the only big swing of the night in the sixth, hammering a curveball into the left-field seats for a solo homer, his fifth of the season. Spencer Torkelson later tacked on an RBI single in the eighth to finish the scoring.
Detroit’s bullpen handled the rest. Lefty Tyler Holton got the game to the ninth, continuing a strong stretch in which he has allowed just two earned runs in his last 17 innings over 15 games. Holton also worked five key outs and got through Steven Kwan and DeLauter, the top two hitters in Cleveland’s order.
Kenley Jansen then took over and threw a clean ninth for his 15th save of the season. He’s now nine saves shy of 500 for his career.
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