Jordan Montgomery Struggles Without 'Best Stuff' After Relief Stint, Texas Rangers Drop World Series Game 2

Jordan Montgomery became just the 13th starting pitcher in World Series history to go at least six innings without a strikeout in the 9-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Did pitching in relief in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series take anything out of Jordan Montgomery for Game 2 of the World Series?

Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy doesn’t think so.

“He was pitching well. Here he was in the seventh, the pitch count was good,” Bochy said after Saturday night’s 9-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. “Had a one-run ball game.”

The Rangers and Diamondbacks are tied 1-1 with the best-of-seven World Series shifting to Phoenix for the next three games, starting Monday night at Chase Field. Max Scherzer is starting Game 3 for Texas.

Montgomery got the win out of the bullpen in the ALCS clincher over the Houston Astros on Monday going 2 1/3 innings. He was on regular rest making his World Series debut against the Diamondbacks, going six-plus innings and allowing four earned runs on nine hits with one walk on 75 pitches (50 strikes).

“I definitely needed my whole five days to get back after it,” Montgomery said. “I had a good bullpen going into this game and I felt good before.”

The lefty didn’t record a strikeout, as his velocity and spin rate were down. The Rangers were trailing 2-1 through six innings before Arizona scored twice in the seventh – both runs being charged to Montgomery who didn’t record an out in the inning before being lifted for Andrew Heaney.

The last time Montgomery didn’t punch out a batter was Sept. 2 in 3 2/3 innings against the Minnesota Twins. He induced just two swings and misses against the D-backs, and became just the 13th starting pitcher in World Series history to go at least six innings without a strikeout.

“Obviously I didn’t have my best stuff, but you’re not going to be perfect out there every time,” he said.

Did the downturn in velo and spin tell Bochy that Saturday just wasn’t Montgomery’s night?

“You look at that, but he was pitching well,” Bochy said. “He’s done such a great job. And that is something you have to be aware of, a left-hander [Arizona’s Alek Thomas] leading off the [seventh] inning. We said we’ll let him start it, and then we brought in Heaney. And now it becomes a three-run ball game.

“But, yeah, I think you have to look at that. But still, you look at the man, he’s got the ability to pitch if it’s down a tick a little bit, and he showed that.”

Rangers Perfect on Road, Series Shifts to PHX

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