To be completely fair, the fact that both of their first names begin with the same letter is about the only way one could compare crafty Yankees lefty Jordan Montgomery to Mets ace Jacob deGrom.
Well, except for the fact that Monty is turning into the Yankees’ Jake in one way: lack of run support.
Yes, the Yankees scored six on Thursday in an eventual 9-6 walk-off loss in Baltimore that was convened well after Monty left the game, but it was 3-3 when he left the game after five, and that total ties the second-most they had scored in any game he started this year.
“There was a little bit (of thought to send Montgomery back out for the sixth), but I felt once he got through that fifth we were pretty set up,” manager Aaron Boone said of removing Montgomery after the fifth. “Certainly a little temptation to send him back out there, and I could’ve, but we felt convicted that was the time.”
The five innings left Montgomery with a 3.35 ERA on the season, yet he is 0-1 and the team is 2-6 in his starts – meaning six of the Yankees’ 10 losses have come on Monty days, despite the lefty allowing three earned runs of less in eight of his starts.
Thursday was one of Montgomery’s “worst” starts of the year, the three earned runs allowed tying his most allowed this year (he also surrendered three to Boston on opening weekend) and five innings pitched tying his third-least. Yet…
“I thought his stuff was better today than his last time out,” Boone said. “He made a mistake to Chirinos, but I thought he had a better breaking ball today and was ripping off some fastballs.”
Anthony Santander doubled twice, but that “mistake” on a two-run homer surrendered to Robinson Chirinos in the second was the only pitch Monty wanted back.
“I just want that one pitch back, but otherwise, my stuff was good,” Montgomery said. “Could’ve been a little more in, but that’s where he does slug, so probably would’ve been safer to go down and away.”
Had he not done that, perhaps things would be different, but here’s the rub: prior to Thursday, a 5-2 win over Baltimore on April 27, where the Yankees has just two of those five runs when Monty left the game, was the only time they topped three runs total in a game he started.
The Yankees’ run totals in his eight starts are now 3, 1, 0, 5, 3, 2, 2, and 6, those two games above three saw at least half the runs scored after the lefty departed. And, through Thursday’s play, of the 44 starters with eight starts or more this year, Montgomery had the fourth-worst run support of the bunch at 2.75 per game – behind two Nationals and Daulton Jeffries, whose Oakland team is tied for 28th in runs scored per game overall.
Quite a shock, then, to see Monty that high, given that the Yankees are third in runs scored per game and second in run differential entering Friday, and Gerrit Cole is tied for sixth-most run support on that list of 44.
Still, the Yankees are 28-10 and were the last team in MLB to lose 10 games, which, given it came on May 19, is still pretty damn good.
If only they supported all five of their starters?
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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