Rookie Montero & Tiger Pen Shut Down Yanks. Detroit 4 NY 0

August 18, 2024 paperbacklou 2024 0

Rookie righthander Keider Montero shut out the Yankees for 5 innings, and then the Detroit pen of Tyler Holton and Jason Foley finished the job for a 4-0 Tiger win in Detroit on a Saturday afternoon.

Carlos Rodon did not have his best stuff, and was burned by 2-out rallies in the first 2 innings — allowing 4 runs. He then settled down but left after 3.1 innings and 90 pitches thrown.

The Yankee bullpen was brilliant — Jake Cousins, new-Yankee Tim Mayza, Mark Leiter Jr. and Tim Hill pitched 4.2 shutout innings.

Detroit is having a rejuvenation season, playing near .500 ball — and have the 5th best team ERA in the American League; the Yankees are 3rd (Seattle leads in ERA, Cleveland is 2nd, KC is 4th).

“Maybe not the extra gear, heater wise,” said manager Aaron Boone afterwards about Rodon. “They really just .. (got) long at bats, foul ball, foul ball, foul ball — and then eventually they took advantage of some mistakes in the heart of the plate, but it was more just wearing him down.”

“Just that next level of not being able to put guys away with 2 strikes or 2 outs,” added Boone. “I think they scored all their runs with 2 outs. Maybe not his best stuff today but it was alright. He was getting some swing and miss — he ended up punching out 5. He had to work hard for it; and then got beat a bit in the heart of the plate.”

NY falls to 73-51, but are still in 1st by a game over Baltimore, which lost to Boston later in the evening. Detroit improves to 60-64.

1. Rodon Rocky

Carlos Rodon did not have his best stuff, and had a hard time putting away batters — Detroit batters kept fouling off pitches — sometimes to the pissed-off reaction by Rodon on the mound.

“Didn’t have that A+ stuff, and was just trying to go out there and compete,” said Rodon afterwards. “I need to be better than that; that was tough — I put the boys down 4-0 after the 2nd; threw 90 pitches through 3 and a third; just didn’t make it happen.”

Detroit burned Rodon by getting all of their runs with 2 outs in the 1st and 2nd innings.

Rodon got the first 2 outs of the game, but then a double by Justyn-Henry Malloy and a 2-out single by Colt Keith and it was 1-0 Detroit.

Rodon had more trouble in the 2nd — a 36-pitch inning. Spencer Torkelson — just back from the IL — led off with a double, but Rodon got tough — getting a ground out and then striking out Javier Baez in a 13-pitch at bat.

But the Baez 13-pitch at bat tired Rodon.

With 2 outs, runner on 3rd, Justyn-Henry McKinstry singled to right for a 2-0 game.  Matt Vierling walked and Andy Ibanez doubled in 2 more. Detroit 4 NY 0.

Rodon scattered a leadoff single and 2-out single in the 3rd — this time getting the final out without a run scoring. He got the first batter of the 4th and was relieved at 90 pitches.

2. Montero Good

Keider Montero is a 23-year-old, 6’1, 145-lb rookie righthander who came in with a 3-5 5.76 record. He was the Tiger’s #7 prospect earlier this season.

He used a 97-MPH fastball and a tough slider to induce weak contact, with a pretty good changeup to keep batters off balance and stifle NY — allowing 2 hits and 2 walks in 5 shutout innings.

  • Montero pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the 1st — getting a groundout, line out (of Juan Soto), and strikeout of Aaron Judge.
  • The Yanks put a little bit of pressure on Montero in the 2nd inning, when Austin Wells led off with a walk, and after consecutive groundouts, Anthony Volpe reached on an infield single to put runners on 1st and 3rd. But Ben Rice flied out to center.
  • Oswaldo Cabrera led off the 3rd with a single, but 3 straight outs followed (groundout, strikeout of Soto, ground out of Judge).
  • Montero finished with a 1-2-3 inning in the 4th and 5th.

“He’s got really good stuff,” Detroit manager A.J. Hinch said afterwards. “You can’t just be a one-pitch guy, so it’s not all about the fastball, it’s not all about the slider, the changeup is getting better. Put all those things together, the steps that he’s taken, he’s been very effective when he’s in the strike zone.”

Montero got into staring contests with Juan Soto — who tried to intimidate the skinny rookie by staring him down.

Montero stared back.

“I did the same thing he did to me,” Montero said afterwards through a translator. “He was staring at me, and he kept looking at me all the time, so I did the same thing. I kept looking at him all the time. I enjoyed the moment.”

Soto lined out in the 1st, then struck out in the 3rd and 5th against Montero. Aaron Judge struck out, grounded out, and popped out against him.

3. Holton Good Too

And then Tyler Holton came in and the Yankees couldn’t touch him either. Holton is a 6’3 lefty in his 3rd MLB season and he is tough — with a 5-1 2.55 slash line, and only 46 hits allowed in 70.2 innings.

Holton pitched a shutout 6th, 7th, and 8th inning — allowing only a leadoff walk to Gleyber Torres in the 6th, but then getting 3 straight outs, and a 1-out single to Oswaldo Cabrera in the 8th — but then getting Gleyber to pop out and Soto to fly out.

4. Yankee Bullpen Terrific

The Yankee bullpen shut the door on Detroit and allowed the Yankee batters to at least have a chance.

Jake Cousins was brilliant — coming in after Rodon retired the first batter of the 4th, but was relieved at 90 pitches. Cousins pitched 1.2 innings of perfect ball.

Former Blue Jay and new Yankee Tim Mayza got his first outing as a Yankee in the 6th — and allowed a triple to first batter Spencer Torkelson. Next batter Jace Jung grounded out to Volpe — Torkelson holding at 3rd. Then Javier Baez swung and missed at a 2-strike pitch and the ball got away from Austin Wells — Torkelson tried to score from 3rd but was pegged out by Wells flipping it to Mayza covering home.

Mark Leiter Jr. came in for the 7th — and allowed a leadoff double to McKinstry — but threw McKinstry out at 3rd on a comebacker by the next batter. Leiter got the next 2 batters for a shutout 7th.

Tim Hill pitched a shutout 8th — getting the first 2 outs, then allowing a walk and a single before getting a fly out to end the inning and keeping the Yanks within hail-Mary distance.

5. Volpe Gives It a Ride

Detroit ace reliever Jason Foley came in for the save. The Yanks made one final push — Aaron Judge leading off the 9th with a double, but Foley struck out Austin Wells and got Giancarlo Stanton to line out to 3rd.

With 2 outs, Alex Verdugo walked to put 2 on. Anthony Volpe hit a deep drive to left that looked like it might go out for a 3-run homer — but leftfielder Matt Vierling caught it at the wall for the old ballgame.

Etcetera

  • The Yankee offense only got 4 hits in the game — 2 by Oswaldo Cabrera, 1 by Aaron Judge, and 1 by Anthony Volpe. Although Volpe just missed a HR his last time up.
  • The Yanks worked 3 walks — by Gleyber Torres, Alex Verdugo, and Austin Wells.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/401570318

 

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