Jordan Montgomery picked up his first career win in the Yankees 7-4 triumph over the White Sox on Monday. “Hopefully first of many,” Montgomery said. “So, keep hitting like that and I’ll have a lot of wins.”
The southpaw pitched well in his second career start, pitching six shutout innings before surrendering a three-run homer in the seventh.
As good as the lefty was in his first start when he have up two earned runs in 4.2 innings against Tampa Bay, he looked even better today. “I thought he had all his pitches today,” Joe Girardi said. “You saw some really good fastballs down in the zone. And I just thought his stuff overall was good.”
Montgomery got out of a second and third with one out jam in the first inning. He pitched to the minimum 12 batters from the second through fifth innings, while the Yankees tagged Derek Holland for seven runs.
Montgomery didn’t have the same hitters he had before his big league debut. “I was a little less amped up this time,”
Montgomery said. “I kind of went out there knowing that I wasn’t gonna try to overthrow or just blow it by anybody, just kinda trust my sinker, I knew I was going to get some ground ball outs with it’s and try and let them hit it.”
The dangerous José Abreu was 0-3 against Montgomery. Avisaíl García, the league’s leading hitter, was 1-3 with an infield single against the lefty. After six stellar innings, Chicago put together two soft singles to begin the seventh before Yolmer Sánchez crushed a three-run homer to end Montgomery’s night. But that shouldn’t take away from the rest of the outing. “I’m sure he’ll think about that, but that’s ok,” Girardi said. “I mean, that’s part of the game.”
For his part, the lefty was thinking about the zeroes he put on the board. “I’m just focusing on the first six,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery was a non-roster invitee but an excellent spring training ended with him being named as the team’s fifth starter. “I’d seen some tape but you kind of want to really see swings and how hitters react,” Girardi said. “I mean, that’s the fair way, for me, to judge our players.”
Last season, “Baseball America” said he had the “Best Breaking Pitch” in the Eastern League. Turns out his pitches are looking good in the majors as well.