Rookie Keider Montero threw the first individual shutout for the Detroit Tigers in three seasons, leading his team to an 11-0 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night.
Montero (5-6) made his 14th major league start and became the first Tigers pitcher to throw nine shutout innings since Spencer Turnbull’s no-hitter on May 18, 2021.
At 24 years and 66 days old, Montero is the third-youngest Tigers pitcher to throw a shutout in the past 20 years, younger than only Justin Verlander in May 2006 and Michael Fulmer in August 2016.
“I was just trying to put every pitch in the strike zone and (catcher Jake Rogers) called a great game,” Montero said through a translator. “Regardless of the score, I was attacking hitters. I knew I had the guys behind me who would make the plays.”
The right-hander needed 96 pitches to face the minimum 27 batters. He allowed three singles, struck out five, and didn’t walk any batters.
“Obviously, this is a huge night for Keider and a huge night for us,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said.
Montero was expected to pitch to Dillon Dingler, who regularly catches for him in Triple-A Toledo and Detroit, but a late lineup change meant he worked with Rogers for only the second time this season.
“We ambushed him with a new catcher about 90 minutes before the game, which isn’t the plan, but he and Jake did a great job,” Hinch said.
All of Colorado’s singles—by Ryan McMahon in the second inning, Ezequiel Tovar in the seventh, and Aaron Schunk in the eighth—were followed by double plays by the Tigers’ infield.
“He’s just got a really solid four-pitch mix—a lively fastball, two different breaking balls, and a good changeup—and he throws a ton of strikes,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “A game like that is rare in this era—a complete game with a low pitch count.”
