Jordan Montgomery’s Diamondbacks debut goes well in win vs. Giants

Starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery made his anticipated debut for the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday, and he cruised through six innings with one earned run against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park in a 17-1 win.

Arizona’s offense, meanwhile, tied a franchise record with 22 hits after getting shutout on Thursday.

Montgomery faced 22 batters and allowed four hits with no walks in his first MLB start since Game 2 of the World Series for the Texas Rangers. He threw 78 pitches, 54 for strikes, generating consistent weak contact.

The lefty was recalled before the game from Triple-A Reno, as he used two starts with the Aces to gear up after signing the day after Arizona’s season opener for $25 million. Montgomery and Giants starter Blake Snell made for a fitting matchup, as both Scott Boras clients signed late enough to cost them spring training — Montgomery has switched agencies.

Montgomery started his Diamondbacks tenure with three scoreless innings before Giants designated hitter Jorge Soler led off the fourth with a solo shot — the first San Francisco home run at Oracle Park this year.

The southpaw completed a 1-2-3 first inning with three grounds outs and stranded a runner on third base with one out in the second. He caught catcher Tom Murphy looking at a seventh-pitch curveball that finished on the inside corner at the knees, a key out with one down in the second.

Jordan Montgomery, Nasty 78mph Curveball. 😨 pic.twitter.com/i9Fy0EkFU1

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 20, 2024

Montgomery retired nine of his last 10 hitters with a Nick Ahmed bloop single the outlier.

“I knew my shapes were fine,” Montgomery said. “My (velocity) was a little down from where it normally is mid-season, but also that should have been my first real game in (spring training). So, I’m just happy to be out there and be able to compete and be with the team.”

Snell did not fare quite as well with five earned runs.

Arizona’s offense racked up nine hits in 4.2 innings against the 2023 NL Cy Young winner, three from Ketel Marte, who is blazing hot (.345 average).

Blaze Alexander and Randal Grichuk picked up two hits apiece off Snell, each smoking RBI doubles.

“They were ambushing,” Snell said. “Guys that are usually patient were swinging early, which I thought they would. It went how I thought it would go, just got to execute and have better sequences and I’ll have way better results.”

The run support helped Montgomery record his first Diamondbacks win.

The D-backs saw an opportunity with Montgomery still on the market leading up to Opening Day. Montgomery’s debut was as advertised for one of MLB’s most consistent arms since the 2021 season.

“We’re excited. Look, he’s an accomplished major league pitcher. Everybody in this market saw him pitch against us in key situations last year,” general manager Mike Hazen told Arizona Sports’ Wolf & Luke this week. “We’re glad we have him. I think he’s going to add a level of stability to our rotation that is critical over 162.”

Only Ryne Nelson and Zack Godley threw at least six innings with one run or fewer, four hits or fewer and no walks in their Diamondbacks debuts.

Ketel Marte’s feat

Marte collected his second four-hit game this week, as he finished Friday’s game 4-for-6 with a double and an RBI. It was his 11th career four-hit game.

The last Diamondbacks player with a five-hit game was David Peralta in 2021.

Clutch Ketel. 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/F1BaXnkiCo

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) April 20, 2024

Hitting was contagious, as all nine starters recorded a knock and eight picked up multiple. Alexander hit a grand slam in the eighth inning for his third extra-base hit of the night.

“It was hit after hit after hit,” Alexander said. “It was really, really exciting.”

The D-backs had not recorded 20 hits in a game since 2019.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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