SEATTLE (AP)– In just his fifth major league start, Seattle rookie Mike Montgomery gave himself a lofty goal.
Not to mention quite a memory, all of it coming against Kansas City, the team that originally drafted Montgomery.
“I probably had a little more emotion going in than I normally do,” Montgomery said. “I know a lot of those guys. I was with them for five years. It was definitely a little extra added on to it.”
Montgomery tossed a gem on Tuesday night against Kansas City, throwing a four-hitter and striking out 10 in Seattle’s 7-0 victory. In the process, Montgomery became the first Mariners left-hander to ever throw a shutout with at least 10 strikeouts and no walks.
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Five scoreless innings for Stephen Strasburg and Mike Montgomery doing something Randy Johnson never did were among the top pitching perfomances Tuesday.
For a franchise that’s had lefties like Mark Langston, Randy Johnson and Jamie Moyer during its history, that’s not a small accomplishment.
“It was fun though because I played with them for a couple of years and to now face them and face them in the big leagues it was a cool experience,” Montgomery said. “I’ll remember them for a long time.”
The achievement was even more surprising considering the trouble Montgomery found himself in after throwing just seven pitches in the first inning. Kansas City loaded the bases on singles by Alcides Escobar and Mike Moustakas and a pitch that hit Lorenzo Cain to load the bases.
But a strikeout of Eric Hosmer and double play got Montgomery out of the inning. The first two batters of the second reached, but then Montgomery took over, striking out the side and starting a string of 17 straight retired before shortstop Brad Miller’s error with two outs in the seventh.
“I really felt confident. After that third inning a switch flipped and I had confidence in all of my stuff,” Montgomery said. “It was just executing, and getting ahead early and putting them away.”
Montgomery was originally drafted by the Royals, but was eventually traded to Tampa Bay before landing in Seattle via trade before the start of this season. Montgomery (2-2) became the second Mariner this season to toss a complete game, joining Felix Hernandez, and he became the 10th rookie in Seattle history to toss a complete game.
While Montgomery was the star, Dustin Ackley wasn’t far behind. Ackley singled, doubled and homered for his first three-hit game of the season. Ackley had only one two-hit game all season, but lined a ground-rule double in his first at-bat against Jeremy Guthrie (5-5) and added a single his next time up that eluded the glove of Alex Gordon’s sliding attempt in left field.
But the big blow was Ackley’s fifth homer of the season, a two-run shot off the top of the wall in right-center that gave Seattle a 6-0 lead. Ackley is 9 of 13 with four doubles and three home runs against Guthrie in his career.
Ackley nearly got the triple he needed for the cycle when he came up in the seventh, but his drive to deep left-center was tracked down by Cain.
“Cain, I played with him in the past and I know his kind of speed. … It wasn’t surprising when he came down with it,” Ackley said.
Miller walked with the bases loaded in the third for Seattle’s first run and Mike Zunino followed with an RBI single, snapping an 0-for-14 skid that included 11 strikeouts.
“One run at a time they just kind of kept tacking them on. … It all kind of happened quickly,” Guthrie said.
