Montgomery throws 'best outing' he's had for KC

BOSTON -- Mike Montgomery recognized this version of himself.

“Today was the first day where I felt like I was a normal starter and I could go 90, 100-plus pitches,” he said following the Royals’ 7-5 loss to the Red Sox.

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Montgomery reached a pitching marker as he continues to be stretched out in the starting role after being shifted out of the bullpen. The lefty threw 90 pitches for the first time since September 18, 2018, on Monday at Fenway Park.

“I thought he did a nice job,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He gave us a chance to win the game.”

Montgomery struck out a season-high seven batters (the most since Sept. 18, 2018), while allowing seven hits and four runs (two homers) over five innings. While he would have liked to erase the home runs from the evening -- especially Sam Travis’ 429-foot smack to center field off a 91.9 mph sinker in the third -- Montgomery was satisfied with his overall performance.

“I thought it was definitely the best stuff I thought I had all year,” Montgomery said. “You’re always looking for results, but for me personally, I think it’s definitely something to build off of. I made a lot of good quality pitches. I’d really like the mistake back -- the two-run homer -- but other than that, I thought I threw the ball really well, did a lot of good things out there.”

Montgomery, who was drafted 36th overall by Kansas City in 2008, had been pitching out of the bullpen for the Cubs when the Royals acquired him last month in exchange for Martín Maldonado. He returned to the starting role with the Royals on July 19, when he threw 45 pitches over two innings (allowing five runs) in a loss to the Indians. From there, he tossed 64 pitches in five innings in a second matchup with Cleveland, followed by 78 pitches over 4 1/3 innings in his last outing, against Toronto. Including tonight, Montgomery has thrown 90-plus pitches 21 times in his five-year career.

“The only way to really train to throw deep in a game is to do it, or to throw a lot of pitches,” Montgomery said. “Today was the first day I felt really good throughout.”

Having a blank canvas to fill over five innings, compared to the immediacy of a quick relief outing, allowed Montgomery to dig into his repertoire of pitches. He varied his pitches during Monday’s outing: 24 curveballs, 18 four-seamers, 17 sinkers, 16 cutters, 14 changeups and one slider. Of Montgomery’s 15 swinging strikes, he drew eight of them with his curveball.

“I have a lot of confidence in the mix that I have,” he said. “Being able to get three, four weeks of bullpens and get routines, I’m able to execute those pitches better. In the bullpen, you’re kind of limited more to a two-pitch mix just because you don’t really have the time to work on things in between.”

Montgomery (1-5, 6.02 ERA) is slated to make his next start on Saturday against the Tigers. He will carry the momentum from Monday’s start with him to Detroit.

“Definitely the best outing I’ve had for Kansas City,” he said. “Take the positive, move on.”