Jordan Montgomery spent most of nine big-league seasons starting games. On Thursday night at Globe Life Field, he finished one - and the Associated Press said it counted as only his second major league save.
Montgomery entered with a 3-1 lead in the ninth against the New York Mets and needed eight pitches. Juan Soto grounded to third. Bo Bichette grounded to shortstop.
Carson Benge went down swinging. Per the CBS Sports box, Montgomery logged 1.0 inning, zero hits, zero runs, zero walks and one strikeout. The AP noted he has made 161 starts and 17 relief appearances over nine seasons.
A starter's resume, a closer's inning
Montgomery faced the heart of New York's order - Soto, Bichette, Benge - and needed no help from the defense beyond routine grounders and the final punchout. Ground ball, ground ball, strikeout: eight pitches, five strikes, two groundouts and a swinging miss. For a pitcher whose career volume is almost entirely measured in starts, the inning read like a specialist's work.
The Rangers had already stopped the bleeding with Jung's first-inning response and Seager's sixth-inning insurance. Montgomery's task was narrower: three outs, no traffic, home finale closed. He delivered exactly that, and the AP's framing of a second career save put the rarity of the role in context without changing the box-score line of a clean ninth.
Texas had already done the hard scoring work before Montgomery took the ball. Josh Jung's two-run homer in the first put the Rangers ahead 2-1 after Francisco Lindor's leadoff double and Benge's RBI single had given New York a brief lead. Corey Seager's solo homer in the sixth - his 19th, snapping an 0-for-15 skid - made it 3-1.
Kumar Rocker (6-11) set the foundation with 5.0 innings, three hits, one earned run, two walks and four strikeouts on 74 pitches. Robert Garcia, Tyler Alexander and Chase Silseth each recorded a hold with a scoreless inning. Montgomery was the fourth reliever and the last.
The CBS box listed the save under Montgomery's line; the AP specifically called it his "second big league save," underscoring how rarely the longtime starter has closed games.
