'An incredible moment': Montero dominates with a 'Maddux' in first shutout

DETROIT -- The Tigers are at the point in this unexpected playoff race where every win is important. But when Keider Montero threw his 96th and final pitch, a buckling curveball, past Rockies ninth hitter Jordan Beck to finish off an 11-0 win Tuesday night at Comerica Park, the ramifications went beyond the AL Wild Card standings.

“Huge night for him,” manager A.J. Hinch said, “and for us.”

As much as a postseason berth would mean for a city that hasn’t seen playoff baseball since 2014, Tuesday’s gem went to the heart of what the Tigers are doing as an organization.

No Tigers pitcher had thrown a complete game, let alone a shutout, since Spencer Turnbull no-hit the Mariners on May 18, 2021.

No Tiger had faced the minimum 27 batters in a complete game since Justin Verlander no-hit the Blue Jays on May 7, 2011.

No Tiger had thrown a “Maddux” -- a shutout with less than 100 pitches -- since David Price blanked Cleveland on 93 pitches on June 12, 2015.

Montero -- a Venezuelan-born right-hander who spent parts of three seasons at High-A West Michigan and was an unranked prospect as recently as last year -- accomplished those feats Tuesday in his 14th Major League start.

“I didn’t know about that,” Montero said, through translation from Tigers Spanish communications and broadcasting manager Carlos A. Guillen, when asked if he knew what a Maddux was. “Now, I know.”

Montero became the first MLB rookie in the pitch-counting era (since 1988) to throw a Maddux while facing the minimum 27 batters. He’s the first Tiger to allow three or fewer hits over nine shutout innings in one of his first 15 big league games since Brian Moehler on April 26, 1997.

“This is an organizational win,” Hinch said, “from the perspective of getting to enjoy this together at our park with a homegrown guy who has been getting incrementally better every step along the way. It’s just an incredible moment.”

Montero got his big league opportunity in May as an extra starter for a doubleheader. He got his chance to slot into the Tigers rotation at the end of June amid injuries to Casey Mize and Reese Olson. For much of August, Montero and Tarik Skubal were the Tigers rotation, counted upon to deliver innings with bullpen days, openers and bulk pitchers sandwiched around them.

It was a huge responsibility, but just as big of an opportunity to learn and grow, and Montero ran with it.

“Those were tough days for us,” Montero said, “and I know how hard it was on our bullpen just to have me and Tarik eat as many innings as we could. They were pitching every single day, many consecutive days. And that [conveyed] to me the importance of getting quick innings. That was the key part: I had the same plan [Tuesday] that I had before, on those days in which we had so many bullpen games. I had the same approach, the same work today. That was key for me.”

The Rockies, likely cognizant of the Tigers’ penchant for first-pitch strikes, stepped to the plate swinging. Montero used their aggressiveness against them, recording seven outs on the first or second pitch of an at-bat. Not only did he not walk a batter, he faced one three-ball count for his entire outing, throwing a 3-2 fastball past Beck for a strikeout to end the third. He retired the top of the Rockies lineup on just five pitches in the fourth inning, and needed just 20 pitches for his second trip through the Rockies order.

"Really solid four-pitch mix -- lively fastball, two different breaking balls and a good change,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “He threw a ton of strikes. We just couldn't solve the pitches in the strike zone. It looked like we didn't chase a whole lot. We had swings. We just couldn't barrel it. He got on a roll pretty much the whole game of just coming after us with strikes, and we didn't square him up."

All three Rockies hits were singles -- Ryan McMahon's liner in the second, Ezequiel Tovar’s ground ball through the middle in the seventh and Aaron Schunk's liner in the eighth. All three were nullified by double plays.

“I didn’t run around much, which usually is a good sign,” said center fielder Parker Meadows, who paced Detroit’s offense with a leadoff homer and a two-run single. “He was really fun to watch. That’s the best I’ve ever seen him, and I’ve been watching him pitch for three or four years now. He deserves it.”