SHANNON DRAYER

Mariners’ Mike Montgomery makes his case for spot in starting rotation

Jul 10, 2016, 5:21 PM | Updated: Jul 11, 2016, 9:51 am

M's reliever Mike Montgomery will get another start after a strong showing Sunday against the Royal...

M's reliever Mike Montgomery will get another start after a strong showing Sunday against the Royals. (AP)

(AP)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – It’s not often you get a spot start like the one Mike Montgomery gave the Mariners in the first-half finale Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium. With Taijuan Walker on the mend but still on the disabled list, the Mariners needed a starter to get them to the break. Montgomery, who had been pitching well in the bullpen, got the call.

In addition to having the quality stuff and a pitch count that was built up to 50 when replacing Walker in his last outing before going on the disabled list, Montgomery had all kinds of motivation going into this game. A former first-round draft pick by the Royals, he had something to show. Or perhaps he only had something to reinforce as he threw a complete-game shutout against his former organization last year. Montgomery also had something to show to his current team.

“I’m definitely excited about it,” he said earlier in the week. “I don’t think it is a secret that I want to be a starter. Coming into the season I knew, hey, if I have got to be in the bullpen, I will be in the bullpen, and if I get to go back to the bullpen, I will go back there. But at the same time, my goal is to be a starter in this league, and my goal is to be the best I can be. And that’s where I’m at.”

On Sunday afternoon, he made a good case to get another start. Montgomery threw 6 1/3 innings, allowing just one run as the Mariners won 8-5. His fastball averaged 93 mph and topped out at 96, and he mixed in his changeup, cutter and curveball.

“Outstanding,” manager Scott Servais said afterward. “Great effort today. He used all of his pitches, a huge number of ground balls. Really happy for him. He wants to get back in the rotation. He’s been good as a reliever, but he really stepped up today.”

Montgomery will indeed get at least one more start.

“We will need all six starters to get to Felix (Hernandez),” Servais said. “He will start again.”

We will see what happens once Hernandez returns. Montgomery is valued in the bullpen but he will get another opportunity to further open eyes, this time with a higher pitch count behind him.

“I knew I was trying to find the border of going all-out every pitch and also understand I was going to have to go deep in the game,” he said of the quick transition from reliever to starter. “I felt like I was able to find that in the game. I definitely ran out of gas near the end, but I felt good. Our offense put up some runs and that gave me confidence, and at that point it was just keep going out there and attacking.”

Before the game, Servais announced that James Paxton will pitch the first game after the All-Star break and Hishashi Iwakuma the second. Felix will pitch the final game of the homestand on Wednesday, July 20, so Montgomery could be looking at a start Sunday, July 17 against the Astros, or Monday or Tuesday against the White Sox.

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