DETROIT.- Venezuelan Keider Montero pitched 6.1 scoreless innings and, backed by a solid bullpen performance, led the Detroit Tigers to a 3-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians this Thursday at Comerica Park.
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Detroit also relied on an RBI groundout by Dillon Dingler and a solo home run by Venezuelan Eduardo Valencia to complete the shutout and win the series against their divisional rivals.
The triumph had a special ingredient: the Tigers achieved the shutout without recording a single strikeout. It is the first time a Major League team has achieved a shutout without strikeouts since July 1, 2014, when Rick Porcello, then with Detroit, shut out the Athletics.
According to Baseball-Reference, there have been only nine shutouts by a team without strikeouts during the Wild Card era.
Montero dominates without striking out
Montero allowed only three hits, two of them connected by Chase DeLauter, in addition to granting a walk to the Dominican José Ramírez.
The Venezuelan right-hander recorded nine outs via ground balls and induced just two swinging strikes in 37 attempts by Cleveland hitters.
His performance made him the first Major League pitcher since Alec Asher in 2016 to work at least six scoreless innings with no strikeouts and two or fewer swings and misses.
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He also became the first Tigers pitcher to achieve this since Porcello in that historic shutout of 2014.
In the outfield, Detroit also did important defensive work. Puerto Rican Javier Báez started in left field for the first time and, along with the rest of the outfielders, helped control the wide spaces of Comerica Park. Center fielder Max Clark also recorded two outs on line drives.
Detroit takes the lead
The Tigers took control of the game in the third inning. Báez opened the inning with a single and later scored after a hit-by-pitch to Ben Malgeri, a walk to Venezuelan Gleyber Torres, and Dingler’s RBI groundout.
Cleveland starter Parker Messick managed to retire 13 consecutive batters, but Valencia broke the resistance in the seventh inning by taking advantage of a curveball that stayed high and depositing it over the left-field wall for his fifth home run of the season.
With the victory, Detroit momentarily seized the last American League Wild Card spot, in the midst of the fight for postseason qualification.
