Mike Montgomery was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the first round of the 2008 draft. The 25-year-old is now making the most of his opportunity with the Seattle Mariners, as he made just his fifth career start Tuesday night. Montgomery allowed just four hits and struck out ten as the lefty threw a complete game shutout in a 7-0 Mariners win.
After four years in Kansas City’s system, Montgomery was dealt to Tampa Bay in the deal that brought James Shields to the Royals in December 2012. He never saw the majors and pitched two seasons with the Rays’ minor league affiliates before being traded to Seattle.
Now, the lefty is 2-2 with an ERA of 2.04, but the Royals had their chances in the first inning and didn’t cash in. Montgomery gave up back to back singles to Alcides Escobar and Mike Moustakas, then hit Lorenzo Cain to load the bases, but he got Eric Hosmer to strike out and Kendrys Morales to ground into a double play. In the second, an error and a single put two Royals on, but Montgomery struck out the side to kill that rally.
Montgomery then retired 17 batters in a row, while the Mariners went to work on Jeremy Guthrie, scoring three in the fourth and three more in the sixth. Guthrie was charged with all six as his record drops to 5-5.