M's rookie Montgomery 1-hits Padres for 2nd straight shutout
Rookie left-hander Mike Montgomery never threw a shutout in 168 starts during eight minor-league seasons.
Now he's got two straight after just six big-league starts, putting him in some elite company.
Montgomery took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and finished with a one-hitter for his second consecutive shutout as the Seattle Mariners beat the San Diego Padres 5-0 Tuesday night.
It was the seventh time a Mariners pitcher threw consecutive shutouts — Randy Johnson did it three times, including three straight in 1994, and Mark Langston did it twice. Montgomery is the 12th major-league rookie, and second Mariners pitcher, to do it since 1980. Langston pitched consecutive shutouts for Seattle on June 26 and July 1, 1984.
Others who tossed consecutive shutouts as rookies were Dwight Gooden, Orel Hershiser, Fernando Valenzuela and Hideo Nomo.
Montgomery, who turns 26 on Wednesday, was coming off his first career shutout, a five-hitter against Kansas City. His latest feat came in front of about 40 family members and friends who came down from the Los Angeles area.
"It's an honor, but I don't think about that too much," he said. "I'm just trying to get on top of my game and control what I can control. It's pretty cool, and I'll acknowledge that in between starts a little bit because baseball's got a great tradition and history to it. ... Having those teammates back there making plays and putting up runs, it's just fun for the whole team."
Montgomery opened the seventh by getting Justin Upton on a fly to left. Yangervis Solarte hit the next pitch into the left-field corner for a double.
"It was a bad pitch and he took advantage of it," Montgomery said. "It was a first-pitch cutter and I just left it out there. He hit it hard."
Until then, the closest the Padres came to getting a hit was Melvin Upton Jr.'s sinking liner to center, but Austin Jackson made a shoestring catch.
Montgomery was obtained by the Mariners in a trade with Tampa Bay on March 31. After nine starts with Triple-A Tacoma — including a loss to the Padres' El Paso affiliate — he made his major-league debut with a no-decision in a loss to the New York Yankees on June 2.
"This kid was outstanding," Seattle manager Lloyd McClendon said. "He's been outstanding. I thought he had it all working. I thought his breaking stuff was a little better tonight than his last outing.
"He's shown a lot of poise. I had no idea what to expect when we first got him. Each and every outing he impresses me even more, and tonight was no different."
Padres manager Pat Murphy said Montgomery "threw some pitches on the edges, kept the ball down, kept attacking with any pitch. Hats off to the kid. He did great. We couldn't get a pattern on him."
Montgomery (3-2) struck out seven, walked four and hit a batter. He threw a career-high 113 pitches.
The Padres were shut out for the 12th time and have lost five of eight.
Brad Miller and Mike Zunino homered off Ian Kennedy (4-7).
Zunino hit a solo homer to left with one out in the third, his ninth. Miller's two-run shot cleared the Jack Daniel's party deck atop the right-field wall with two outs in the fourth, his seventh.
Miller's shot followed Jackson's RBI single to left. Nelson Cruz was thrown out trying to go from first to third on the play.
Kennedy allowed four runs and five hits in five innings, struck out five and walked one.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Mariners: RHP Felix Hernandez is fine despite exiting his last start following six innings because of heat exhaustion.
Padres: INF Cory Spangenberg was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sore left knee. He was replaced on the roster by Jedd Gyorko, who was demoted to Triple-A El Paso on June 10.
UP NEXT
Mariners: RHP Taijuan Walker (6-6, 4.64 ERA) starts the matinee finale of the two-game set Wednesday. He's won four straight starts and is 5-1 in his last six, with a 1.91 ERA.
Padres: RHP James Shields (7-2, 4.24) tries for the fifth time to get his eighth victory. He's 0-2 in his last four starts.
