SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The Rangers have no regrets about trading for Jordan Montgomery, not after he was their best starting pitcher in the final two months of the season and beat the Rays with seven shutout innings in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series on Tuesday afternoon.

But it did pain Texas to part with two of its better prospects to acquire Montgomery from the Cardinals on July 30. Infielder Thomas Saggese led the Minors with 170 hits and 294 total bases this year, while right-hander Tekoah Roby has a four-pitch mix that could make him a mid-rotation starter.

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Roby certainly looked the part in his Arizona Fall League debut on Tuesday evening. Texas' No. 5 prospect started and went three scoreless innings for the Scottsdale Scorpions in a 10-inning, 1-0 victory over the Glendale Desert Dogs. He surrendered just one hit and struck out five of the 10 batters he faced.

“Any time I can have my changeup working, which is my fourth pitch, it’s going to be a good night,” said Roby, who threw 31 of 43 pitches for strikes. “I felt very comfortable. I had pretty much everything working, which is awesome. I think I got a strikeout on every pitch.”

A third-round pick from a Florida high school in 2023, Roby can attack hitters with pitches that move in different directions. His 92-96 mph fastball gets on hitters quickly because of the extension in his delivery and features good carry at the letters, while his upper-70s downer curveball drops through the bottom of the zone. His low-80s slider and fading low-80s changeup move in opposite directions horizontally.

“I think when I have all four, I’m very tough to beat,” Roby said. “I think my best pitch is probably just my heater. When I can locate that to all four quadrants, then I can throw anything off of it. When the fastball’s on and it rides and I have that extension working, it’s typically a tough pitch to square up.”

Roby’s ability to mix and locate his pitches has resulted in an impressive 230/57 K/BB ratio in 185 innings over three years as a pro and got him to Double-A at age 21 this season. The only question with him has been his health, as he was shut down with a sprained elbow in 2021 and missed 12 weeks this year with a strained shoulder. Though he was sidelined at the time of the Montgomery trade, the Cardinals still valued him highly enough to target him.

Glendale starter Jake Eder, who went from the Marlins to the White Sox in an Aug. 1 deal for Jake Burger, matched Roby with three shutout innings, notching three strikeouts on sliders. Neither team scored until the bottom of the 10th, when Scottsdale loaded the bases with the automatic runner, an infield chopper by catcher Jimmy Crooks (Cardinals) and a walk by left fielder Carter Howell (Giants). Right fielder Jadiel Sanchez (Angels) singled up the middle through a drawn-in infield to knock in the winning run.

The Scorpions (1-0-1) and Desert Dogs (0-2) managed just four hits each. Five Scottsdale pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts and just one walk, with right-hander Andre Granillo fanning five in two innings.