NEW YORK -- How good was the Tigers’ rotation in their first series sweep at Yankee Stadium since 2008? Even displaced Tigers starters were shutting down the Bronx Bombers.
Keider Montero’s move out of the rotation this week following Jack Flaherty’s return from the injured list was a tricky one, considering how well he has pitched as a starter. His 3.31 ERA ranked eighth among qualified AL pitchers as of Wednesday night. His 0.99 WHIP sits third, just behind Yankees ace Cam Schlittler. He has held hitters to a .212 batting average, fifth lowest in the AL, just behind Jacob deGrom.
But Montero’s move to the bullpen wasn’t a punishment. The Tigers weren’t going to use a six-man rotation with off-days coming up Friday and Monday. Someone had to be the odd man out, but that someone also had to be useful in the bullpen when the situation called.
For Montero, that situation came in the 10th inning of Wednesday’s 6-2 win. Troy Melton’s 6 1/3 scoreless innings and seven strikeouts had put the Tigers in position to sweep, but two ninth-inning runs off Drew Anderson had forced extra innings.
The Tigers needed not only outs from Montero, but strikeouts. The Tigers’ failure to score in the top of the 10th left the Yankees in position to win it by simply moving the automatic runner along. Spencer Jones stood on third with one out after José Caballero’s sacrifice bunt.
Suddenly, a starting pitcher with a 16.1 percent strikeout rate, which ranked in the bottom 11 percent of MLB pitchers, according to Statcast, needed strikeouts.
“He’s very unique,” manager A.J. Hinch said, “because I don’t think it really fazes him. Part of it is his confidence in himself. A lot of it is about his pitches.
“He has an incredible mindset. If you could hand his mindset to a lot of young pitchers, where they just take the ball and attack the hitter -- doesn’t matter if it’s the top of the first, bottom of the first, at Yankee Stadium in the 10th, last year in Seattle in extra innings -- he just has a competitive spirit about him and a belief that he’s going to be able to execute.”
Montero answered the call, fanning Oswaldo Cabrera on a slider in the dirt, then overpowering Ali Sánchez with a 97.2 mph fastball -- three ticks above his season average -- to end the threat.
“Incredible,” catcher Jake Rogers said. “Keider’s been incredible at it his whole career. He’s not afraid of anybody, and he’s going to attack the zone no matter what.”
And as the Tigers built their winning rally with a four-run 11th inning off Camilo Doval, punctuated by a bases-clearing single from Zach McKinstry, they had Montero to thank for getting them there.
“He did it last year so well,” McKinstry said of Montero, who froze Jazz Chisholm Jr. on a 97.1 mph heater to end the game. “He just fits in the role of just getting outs. It’s kind of what he does. I think he could’ve gone five innings there for us. He’s electric in those moments. I think his pitches play up later in the game, and guys aren’t seeing him as well. He’s able to do things with the baseball that not a lot of people can do. He’s pretty impressive.”
Troy Melton picked up where fellow starters Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal left off in the first two games of the series, striking out seven batters over 6 1/3 scoreless innings to support a 2-0 lead that held until the ninth. Detroit’s three starters this series combined to toss 19 1/3 innings with just two runs allowed, one earned, one walk and 26 strikeouts.
Add in Montero, who would be a rotation fixture on a lot of teams, and the numbers improve to 29 strikeouts over 21 1/3 innings.
“He’s really good, whatever role you put him in,” said Melton, who shifted from the rotation to the bullpen for the stretch run last year shortly after his debut. “I think he’s just a good pitcher.
“When you see him come out of the 'pen, I think he pitches with some emotion, which is really cool to see. His fastball was really hard today. It’s really cool to have him.”
Montero will get his chance in the rotation again, if not next week then possibly during the stretch of 13 consecutive games coming out of the All-Star break. If the Tigers become sellers at the Trade Deadline, he’ll likely be a key cog of the revamped Tigers rotation alongside Melton. But if this becomes the start of the long-awaited run that propels Detroit back into the playoff chase and out of the trade market, Montero will be a big reason.