Monty finds formula to shut down Astros, fan Alvarez 3 times

HOUSTON -- When Jordan Montgomery was dealt to the Cardinals at the 2022 Trade Deadline, he went on a string of seven shutdown starts, posting a 1.45 ERA. He credited then-St. Louis pitching coach Mike Maddux for helping to increase the usage of his four-seam fastball.

At the 2023 Trade Deadline, Montgomery was again reunited with Maddux in Texas, and the rest has been history for the Rangers. Literally.

On Sunday night, Montgomery became the first pitcher in franchise history with multiple scoreless postseason starts of six or more innings. In a 2-0 win vs. the Astros, the left-hander threw 6 1/3 scoreless frames to help deliver a crucial Game 1 victory in the American League Championship Series at Minute Maid Park.

“If it doesn't raise your game [to pitch] in the playoffs, I don't think you're doing it right,” Montgomery said.

Montgomery did it by shutting down one of the hottest postseason hitters: Yordan Alvarez. He struck out Alvarez three times in three plate appearances, becoming the first pitcher since Gerrit Cole on June 25, 2022, to record three K’s of Alvarez in a game, and the first to do so in the postseason.

And Montgomery mixed in that four-seam fastball in two huge spots to contain an Astros lineup that entered with the best OPS in the Majors (.809) vs lefties.

“Mike Maddux is one of the best at game planning,” Houston manager Dusty Baker said.

When Montgomery first ran into trouble in a 28-pitch third inning, he got Alvarez to whiff on a four-seamer for strike one and finished him off with his second strikeout swinging on a curveball.

Then, in the fourth, after three straight two-out singles sent Astros catcher Martín Maldonado to the plate, Montgomery went back to his four-seam fastball, throwing three in a row and striking Maldonado out swinging on a high heater after a mound visit from Maddux.

“Mike is a true wizard when he makes his mound visits,” catcher Jonah Heim said postgame on the FOX broadcast. “You never know what you’re going to get. He can crack a joke or give you words of encouragement. He’s probably the best at calming the pitcher down and getting back to work.

“... We fell in a little trap when we went with the soft stuff and that’s when they got those base hits. We got back to what he does best, and that’s filling the zone with some heaters.”

Montgomery said getting back with Maddux for the second time around has been helpful in regard to how the pitching coach sees how his stuff is moving. Maddux returned the praise, complimenting Montgomery for using all the tools in his toolbox.

“He's got something for every hitter,” Maddux said on Friday.

“It's just having confidence in every pitch, knowing if I get it to a spot, it's going to be OK,” Montgomery added on Saturday. “I've got a lot of different spots I can kind of hit to kind of make the hitter's job a little harder.”

The Astros entered as one of the most dangerous lineups in MLB against southpaws.

Outfielders Kyle Tucker (.934 OPS vs. lefties) and Alvarez (.892 OPS vs. lefties) were two of the best left-on-left hitters. Fellow outfielder Chas McCormick (1.008 OPS vs. lefties) is one of the best hitters against lefties in the Majors, period.

But Montgomery held the trio to just one single in nine at-bats with his trusty sinker, the curveball to finish off batters with two strikes and the four-seam fastball to keep them honest and off-balance. He only yielded five hits (all singles) and one walk to go with six strikeouts.

Opposing starter Justin Verlander and Houston third baseman Alex Bregman could only offer up shrugs and tip their caps to Montgomery.

“He was on tonight, for sure, working four different pitches to all four quadrants of the plate,” Bregman said. “Good breaking ball, good fastballs, both of them. He was really good tonight. You tip your hat to him.

“Obviously, [Montgomery] was on his game and did a great job,” Verlander said. “Sometimes you have to tip your cap and say, ‘All right, let’s get them tomorrow.’”