The St. Louis Cardinals are riding high right now and their starting pitcher last night made things even better.
Jordan Montgomery, who was acquired from the slumping New York Yankees in exchange for Harrison Bader, pitched yet another gem, this time throwing a complete-game shutout and allowing just one hit against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
All Montgomery needed was home run No. 693 from Albert Pujols.
With his gem last night, Montgomery became just the second pitcher in the modern era to go 4-0 and allow no more than one run in his first four starts with a team.
The other was Fernando Valenzuela in 1981.
Jordan Montgomery of the @Cardinals is the second MLB pitcher in the modern era to go 4-0 with no more than 1 run allowed over his first 4 starts with a team.
The other was Fernando Valenzuela with the Dodgers in 1981.
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) August 23, 2022
Gumby Dazzles At Wrigley
Montgomery has been everything the Cardinals could have hoped for since being acquired.
His ERA in his first four starts as a Cardinal sits at 0.35.
For the season, Montgomery is 7-3 with a 3.08 ERA.
He’s putting together a nice stretch here for the Cardinals, who were in desperate need of starting pitching help.
Montgomery has helped steady things in the Cards rotation and is pitching like an ace.
If he keeps this run up, then there’s a good chance that he could end up being penciled in as the Cards’ Game 1 starter in the postseason.
He allowed just one hit last night, becoming the first Cardinals starter to throw a one-hit shutout since Jaime Garcia did it back in 2016.
He’s been as good as advertised for the Cardinals and has been exactly what they needed.
The Cards have now won eight straight games and lead the NL Central by five games over the Milwaukee Brewers.
They’ll turn to Adam Wainwright for the first game of a doubleheader today and will look for another solid pitching performance.
NEXT: MLB Reference Page Shares Albert Pujols' Odds Of History