Kansas City, Mo. – Things are not going well for the Tigers right now, but they’d be going a heck of a lot worse were it not for Keider Montero.
The Venezuelan right-hander who started the season at Triple-A Toledo, continues to bolster a decimated starting rotation. His six-inning gem Friday night in the 4-3 walk-off loss against the Royals was the fourth time in his seven starts that he left the game with a lead.
“He’s been awesome,” said catcher Dillon Dingler, who rose through the Tigers’ system catching Montero since Double-A ball. “He goes out every time and competes his ass off. You know he’s going to go out there and try to go as long as possible, just be efficient and attack guys. I love it.”
That’s what Montero did against a Royals’ lineup that was stacked with six left-handed hitters all bent on doing damage early in the count. And Montero deftly turned that strategy against them.
“I noticed that they were being aggressive,” Montero said through interpreter Carlos Guillen. “So I just followed Dillon’s orders and executed pitches as best I could, just following him and trying to get them to get themselves out.”
Leadoff hitter Maikel Garcia flew out on the first pitch. Montero got through the first inning on eight pitches. After getting nicked for a run in the second inning, he got through the third on six pitches. He was at 41 pitches through four and 54 pitches through five.
That is what efficiency looks like.
“They were clearly going to ambush him and be aggressive,” manager AJ Hinch said. “I thought his stuff got better as the outing went along. The changeup came and the breaking ball.”
The lefties were especially on Montero’s knuckle-curveball early. Vinnie Pasquantino put a jolt into one in the first inning that Matt Vierling tracked and caught running into the wall in right-center. With two outs in the second inning, Jac Caglianone drove a knuckle-curve into the gap for a double and scored on a single by Isaac Collins.
“I didn’t really make an adjustment,” Montero said. “I felt like they were sitting on it, so we changed the location and the mix a little bit.”
Not only was the Caglianone double the last hit the Royals got against Montero’s knuckle-curve, he used it to produce maybe his biggest out of the game – his last out in the sixth.
With two on and two out and the Tigers still up 3-1 at that point, Montero went to battle against countryman Salvador Perez, one of his idols and his catcher during the WBC. But here’s a little window into Montero’s cold-bloodedness on the mound.
Asked about facing Perez, he said, “I usually don’t pay attention to who I am facing or the name that’s on the back of their uniform. I just knew I had fallen behind in the count on the last batter (he walked Pasquantino) and I was just focused on making my adjustments.”
In the fourth inning, Montero struck Perez out, getting two ugly swings with the knuckle-curve. He did not abandon it in the sixth. He threw him a beauty below the zone on a 2-2 count and got Perez to fly softly to right field.
“It felt very good,” Montero said. “Obviously, I know him and I know his career and I know he has everything on me. So, it was pretty cool to get him out. But more than that, it was important to keep them from scoring in that inning.”
Montero was at 71 pitches after six innings but, with a two-run lead and a pocket of five straight left-handed hitters coming up for the Royals and, after the off day Thursday, some fresh arms at the back end of the bullpen, Hinch congratulated Montero on a job well done.
“He won his most important inning and that was his last inning,” Hinch said. “That was a tough lineup for him with a bunch of lefties stacked at the bottom. He was able to find his changeup and he gave us a quality outing.”
Another quality outing. It was the sixth time in his seven starts that he allowed three runs or less and five hits or less.
“Just trying to do what I do every time,” Montero said. “Go out and be aggressive, attack the hitters and try to make them get themselves out.”
Within the next couple of months, the injured starting pitchers will be filtering back into competition. While there is no real timetable for Tarik Skubal just yet, Casey Mize is ready to start facing hitters. Justin Verlander is on the brink of starting a rehab assignment. Troy Melton is already two rehab starts at Low-A Lakeland in and seemingly ready to move up a level, possibly to Triple-A.
But the work Montero has been doing to keep the rotation and the team afloat will be tough to push aside. Some welcomed but tough decisions loom.
Chris.McCosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Keider Montero continues to be a light in Tigers’ dark stretch
Reporting by Chris McCosky, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
