D-backs Rout Giants 17-1 in Jordan Montgomery's Debut

Montgomery threw six strong innings and the offense pounded out a franchise record tying 22 hits

Jordan Montgomery had an outstanding debut with the Arizona Diamondbacks throwing six strong innings in a 17-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants in Oracle Park.

Signed to a one-year, $25 million dollar free agent contract on March 29th, Montgomery needed three weeks to get ready for his first start of the year. While his velocity was down 1.8 MPH from his 2023 levels, he had sharp command of all his pitches. Firing first-pitch strikes to 10 of the first 11 batters he faced, Montgomery was efficient with his pitch count, needing just 78 pitches in total as he didn't walk a batter.

Most impressively, Montgomery's pitch mix of 30 sinkers, 24 curveballs, and 20 changeups kept the Giants off balance all night. He induced nine groundouts to go with his three strikeouts. The only blemish came in the 4th inning from Jorge Soler's solo homer on a sinker down and in.

The D-backs offense took a few innings to get going, but once they did it was a parade of hits and runs. Giants starter Blake Snell got through the first two innings giving up just a leadoff single in the first inning to Ketel Marte, the first of his four hits. Marte drove in Blaze Alexander with a base hit in the third inning. In the fourth, Alexander hit his second double of the game to drive in Eugenio Suarez.

It was still a close 2-1 game through four innings but the D-backs knocked Snell out of the game with a three-run fifth inning. Marte got it started with a bloop double into right. Christian Walker drove him in with the first of his three hits, and two batters later Randal Grichuk stroked a two-run double.

From there the D-backs beat up on the Giants bullpen scoring four runs in the 7th inning, six more in the 8th, upping the score to 15-1. The 8th inning was highlighted by Alexander's first career grand slam, after narrowly missing a homer earlier in the third inning. The rookie is now hitting .348, with a 1.021 OPS and his 5 RBI night brings his total up to 12 in 51 PA. He is the first rookie in franchise history to hit two doubles and a home run in the same game.

With shortstop Tyler Fitzgerald in to pitch the 9th inning the D-backs tacked on two more runs and four more hits, tying the franchise record with 22 hits. Eight different Diamondbacks had multi-hit games.

The only down note in the game was fireballer Justin Martinez coming into a 15-1 ballgame with two outs in the 8th and walking the first two batters he faced. He then walked the leadoff hitter of the 9th inning. While inconsequential to the game itself, (he didn't allow any runs) it can't help his or his manager's confidence to put him into any high leverage situations.

The third of this four-game series is Saturday afternoon, with first pitch set for 1:05 PM Arizona time. The Diamondbacks will send out ace Zac Gallen, and the Giants will counter with left-hander Kyle Harrison.