It took the Tigers two pitches to give Keider Montero all the support he would need. It took Montero just 96 pitches to mow down the Rockies. The rookie right-hander who was in A-ball a year ago faced the minimum number of batters in a complete game shutout in the Tigers' 11-0 win Tuesday night, another implausible twist in this impossible playoff race.
Montero flexed and roared and pounded his glove after getting the final hitter to swing through a curveball and said afterward that he "was over the clouds." The moon had barely risen over Comerica Park before Montero had put the Rockies to bed.
When he debuted for the Tigers in May, Montero was bombed by the Pirates as the spot starter in the second game of a doubleheader. When he joined the rotation for good in July, the club was spiraling toward yet another losing season. Look at the Tigers now. They are 74-71 and mounting a push toward October, hot on the heels of the Twins for the final AL wild card spot.
It's all pretty heady for the 24-year-old Montero, who's never been to the playoffs as a pro. He smiled and said the pursuit of it "keeps me excited." He signed with the Tigers as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela in 2016, the last time the big club was in postseason contention. That was with a pitching staff led by Justin Verlander, the last Tiger to face 27 batters and get 27 outs -- in his no-hitter in 2011 -- until Tuesday night.
The only run Montero needed against the Rockies came courtesy of Parker Meadows, who led off the bottom of the first by homering off his former high school teammate Bradley Blalock.
What is going on here?
"We know what’s going on," said A.J. Hinch. "We’re not naive, we’re not aloof, we’re not unaware. We’re just super focused. These guys are having a great time, they’re young, they’re fun, they’re athletic. We think we can win every night, and then we come out and test ourselves. We’ve talked about wanting to play important baseball. This is important baseball. This is what it looks like."
The Tigers briefly pulled within 2.5 games Tuesday night of the Twins, who quickly pushed it back to 3. They were 9 games out just three weeks ago, just three weeks removed from trading one of their best pitchers and other roster pieces at the deadline. The sell-off injected more youth into an already green clubhouse.
On an average night, the oldest player in the Tigers' lineup might be 29-year-old catcher Jake Rogers. Most of their production comes from players under the age of 25 -- Meadows, Riley Greene and Colt Keith combined for six hits and six runs against the Rockies. The Tigers are 19-8 since Aug. 11, best in the bigs. At this rate, and with a favorable schedule to come, the playoffs aren't out of reach.
Playoffs!?
"If you don’t look at it when you’re 10 games out, you’re not gonna look at it when you’re 2 games out," said Hinch. "Part of the consistency that we bring every day is just stay in the moment, play our game. I will quickly humble us whenever we start thinking that we’re on some kind of run."
Meadows was hardly running at all Tuesday night, "which is usually a good sign" for the man on the mound, he said. With Montero dealing, Meadows just enjoyed the view from center. The two of them came up the Tigers' system together, teammates from West Michigan to Detroit. Montero's performance Tuesday night was "the best I've ever seen him," said Meadows, "and I’ve been watching him pitch for three, four years now."
"He deserves it," Meadows said. "He’s a hard worker, he’s over there on his iPad looking at his mechanics or how to attack hitters and you saw it tonight, he was on his A game."
Montero muzzled the Rockies with an array of fastballs, sliders and knuckle curves, mixing in changeups and sinkers. He generated 17 whiffs and struck out five. He allowed just three hits and wiped out each base runner on a double play. He was masterful and Maddux-esque on a night that the Tigers director of pitching, Gabe Ribas, was in the building. RIbas worked closely with Montero in the minors.
"He’s super easy to coach," said Hinch. "It’s just a matter of him growing his confidence to take it out on the field and do it. He’s trying his damndest to be perfect. He wants the ball. Look at his emotions at the end of the game, how proud he is of himself and how happy he is for his team. The biggest smile you’re going to see is after a game like that."
The Tigers have gained ground despite losing arms. Their surge has been fueled by a pitching staff featuring two actual starters in Montero and AL Cy Young favorite Tarik Skubal. They've pasted together the rest of the rotation, if one can call it that, with openers, bulk relievers and rosin. It's a testament to Hinch and his team of pitching coaches led by Chris Fetter, and a reflection of how much the organization's development arm has grown. On Tuesday, the Tigers nearly turned a no-name into a no-no.
They've always liked Montero's stuff, which is "one of the reasons that we've stuck with him," said Hinch. They gave him a shot in Detroit when he had an ERA north of 5 in Toledo, and they've continued trotting him out there out of faith as much as necessity. Montero has the "ingredients" to be a good MLB pitcher, said Hinch, "the versatility in his arsenal," a fastball that plays up, an emerging changeup and breaking balls of various speeds and shapes.
"He needs time, he needs reps, he needs consistent routines, all things that we’ve been chiseling away at since he’s been in A-ball," said Hinch. "So this is an organizational win, getting to enjoy this together at our park with a homegrown guy who has been getting incrementally better every step along the way. It's just an incredible moment."
The Tigers won't get too caught up in it. They can't. Thrilled though they were for Montero -- even the typically stoic Fetter showed some emotion after the game -- "we need to focus on the next game," said Hinch. Prone though they are to the highs (and lows) of a playoff race, "we have to stay grounded in the next challenge." That's how they've gone from nowhere to somewhere, like an anonymous pitcher into the big-league spotlight.
"Rhythm is such a big deal for him," said Hinch. "It’s easier said than done, but he found it (tonight) and never lost it."
Implausible is possible, if the Tigers don't lose theirs.
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