Montgomery follows Scherzer's steps in stellar debut

ARLINGTON -- Jordan Montgomery admitted he had a few extra nerves going into his debut with the Rangers on Friday night. After all, he went from pitching for a last-place team in St. Louis to a first-place team in Texas.

“Just want to make a good first impression on the new team,” Montgomery said.

Well, despite those nerves causing a slow start, Montgomery did just that. He ended up throwing six-plus innings of two-run ball, leading the Rangers to a 6-2 victory over the Marlins at Globe Life Field.

Much like Max Scherzer did in his debut Thursday, Montgomery stumbled out of the gates and then battled back. After allowing single runs in the first and second innings, Montgomery put together four scoreless innings en route to a quality start.

Montgomery and Scherzer are the only Rangers pitchers in the last four seasons to register quality starts in their first outing with the club. Montgomery said it felt like a normal start once the third inning rolled around.

“Really, once I settled in, I just kind of fell back on what I know,” he said.

Montgomery had retired 11 consecutive batters going into the seventh before giving up a leadoff single and a walk to end his night. Still, it was a terrific start by the left-hander, who finished with six strikeouts and eight groundouts.

“We just couldn’t get any hits,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “I think that was the main thing. We couldn’t get the ball off the ground. A lot of weak contact throughout the game after the second inning.”

In the meantime, the Rangers’ lineup did its thing.

Texas answered with single runs in the bottom half of the first and second innings -- on Corey Seager's 17th homer and Leody Taveras' RBI double, respectively -- and then jumped in front on a couple of solo home runs by Adolis García in the third and sixth innings.

Receiving that type of run support hasn’t been too common for Montgomery this season. He went through a stretch of seven consecutive games in which the Cardinals did not score more than three runs while he was on the mound. Overall, the Cardinals didn’t score more than three runs while he was on the mound in 13 of his past 21 starts, including a couple of weeks ago when he faced this same Marlins team.

Montgomery held Miami to one run over six innings on July 18, but he ended up with a no-decision as he exited with the score tied 1-1. St. Louis went on to win the game 5-2 in extra innings.

Montgomery said he has nothing but respect for the Cardinals organization. However, he’s excited to join a contender and pitch for a team that boasts MLB's highest-scoring offense.

“Anytime you can go six innings with two [runs allowed] on a team like this, there’s a pretty good chance of it being a win,” he said. “I’m enjoying that for the first game. Hopefully, I can give them 15 more.”

The night couldn’t have ended better, either, as Chris Stratton closed out Montgomery’s victory with two scoreless frames. Stratton and Montgomery were both part of the trade package acquired from the Cardinals.

“He’s awesome,” Montgomery said of Stratton. “Y’all will get to know him, how quality of a guy he is. And I think he’s nasty [on the mound]. He’s willing to take the ball every day.”

Finally, it’s worth noting that García had his seventh career multi-home run game, including his sixth at Globe Life Field. No other hitter has more than three multi-homer games at the stadium.

García finished the night reaching base in all four of his plate appearances with the two home runs, a double and a walk.

“What a game, huh?” manager Bruce Bochy said of García. “It looked like he saw the ball well. Really, the last few days you’ve seen more of what Doli is. I think he’s in a good place with his swing.”

Everyone inside the Rangers’ clubhouse seems to be in a good place these days. They’ve won four straight games and have the third-best 110-game start in franchise history at 64-46.