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Detroit Tigers rookie Keider Montero shuts down high-powered New York Yankees in 4-0 win
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- Detroit Tigers rookie Keider Montero shuts down high-powered New York Yankees in 4-0 win
Detroit Tigers right-hander Keider Montero dominated in Saturday's game against the New York Yankees . He struck out the best batters in the world in Aaron Judge and Juan Soto , stranded two baserunners in the second inning and made this his final innings look easy.
He earned a standing ovation.
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It was an outstanding performance.
"Honestly, I loved them all," Montero said of his favorite moment. "I like to compete, and I like the competition, and guys like Soto, he challenges you a lot with the way he looks at you and the way he stands at you, so striking him out was a little bit more pleasing."
Montero didn't pitch a complete game, but he kept the Yankees from scoring through five-plus innings as part of a 4-0 win in the second of three games in the series. A pair of relievers, led by left-hander Tyler Holton , slammed the door on the Yankees in the final four innings.
The Yankees were limited to four hits and three walks in the shutout.
Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Keider Montero (54) delivers in the first inning against the New York Yankees at Comerica Park in Detroit on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024.
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The Tigers (60-64) and Yankees are scheduled to play the series finale Sunday night in the MLB Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
"It was a really, really fun win for us," manager A.J. Hinch said, paying tribute to the 38,110 fans. "We played very well. I loved our approach. I loved our pitching. To finish it off and get the shutout is certainly a good feeling."
All four runs from the Tigers scored in the first two innings, off left-hander Carlos Rodón .
With two outs in the first, Justyn-Henry Malloy hit a ground-rule double to left field to set the table for Colt Keith , who smacked a full-count slider into center field for an RBI single and a 1-0 lead. Keith, a left-handed hitter, continues to prove he can hit left-handed pitching.
Detroit Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson (20) hits a double in the second inning against the New York Yankees at Comerica Park in Detroit on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024.
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Spencer Torkelson — the 2020 No. 1 overall pick playing his first game since returning from Triple-A Toledo — sparked the Tigers in the second inning, crushing a high-velocity fastball from Rodón into right-center field for a leadoff double.
It was Torkelson's 16th double in 55 games this season.
"That's huge," Torkelson said of hitting the ball the opposite way to right-center field, which he did twice. "That's everything I've done my entire life. That's what I was born to do, is use that right-center gap, and then if the timing is right, I'll use the left-center gap. That's the approach I'm talking about. I'll just stick to that as many times as possible."
Torkelson received the loudest cheers from fans during pregame lineup introductions.
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"I wasn't expecting that at all," he said. "That means a lot to me. It definitely fired me up even more. I was definitely ready, but I was even more ready after hearing that."
With two outs, Zach McKinstry delivered an RBI single on a first-pitch fastball from Rodón for a 2-0 advantage. A walk from Matt Vierling kept the second inning alive. Andy Ibáñez , a specialist against left-handed pitching, cranked a hanging slider from Rodón to left-center, driving in two runs for a 4-0 lead.
Rodón, a two-time All-Star, allowed four runs on seven hits and one walk with five strikeouts across 3⅓ innings, throwing 90 pitches. The Tigers hit his fastball hard.
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Guided by Keider Montero, Tyler Holton
The fans gave Montero the love he deserved.
He walked off the mound to an ovation after walking the leadoff batter in the sixth inning, but the end-of-outing walk didn't define the 11th appearance of his MLB career. The 24-year-old rookie flashed above-average fastball command and utilized his slider for weak contact.
"He's got really good stuff," Hinch said. "You can't just be a one-pitch guy, so it's not all about the fastball, it's not all about the slider, the changeup is getting better. Put all those things together, the steps that he's taken, he's been very effective when he's in the strike zone."
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Montero struck out Judge in a perfect first inning, worked around two baserunners in the second inning, struck out Soto and won a seven-pitch battle against Judge in the third inning and retired all six batters in the fourth and fifth innings.
In the first, Montero struck out Judge by painting a full-count sinker on the down-and-away corner of the strike zone. In the third, Soto whiffed at a changeup at the bottom of the zone.
Soto stared at Montero in an effort to intimidate him.
"I did the same thing he did to me," Montero said in Spanish, interpreted by Carlos Guillén, the Tigers' manager of Spanish communication and broadcasting. "He was staring at me, and he kept looking at me all the time, so I did the same thing. I kept looking at him all the time. I enjoyed the moment."
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Montero surrendered just two hits, though one of those hits — a leadoff single in the third inning — should've been ruled as a fielding error on Ibáñez at second base, as the ball skipped over his glove.
Montero exited after the sixth-inning walk, but Holton cleaned up by taking down Soto (strikeout), Judge (popout) and Austin Wells (groundout). Holton also put zeros on the scoreboard in the seventh and eighth innings for three scoreless innings, throwing 45 pitches.
Right-handed reliever Jason Foley handled the ninth inning, stranding two runners in scoring position. For the final out, Anthony Volpe flew out to the warning track in left field.
First MLB hit for Jace Jung
Third baseman Jace Jung, playing in his second MLB game, collected the first hit of his MLB career with two strikes and two outs in the third inning. He ripped a slider from Rodón, located at the bottom of the strike zone, for a ground-ball single into right field.
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He hit the ball with a 104 mph exit velocity.
"I wasn't too ramped up," Jung said. "I tried to stay cool, calm and collected. I'm just going out there and trying to have fun with these guys. That's about it."
Jung finished 2-for-4 with two singles, while Torkelson finished 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, a walk and a strikeout in his first MLB game since returning from the Triple-A level.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
Listen to our weekly Tigers show "Days of Roar" every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple , Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers ride Spencer Torkelson's bat to 4-0 win over Yankees
