The Undercards: Mike Montgomery Does His Best David Price Impression

David Price was incredible for the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday. Fellow lefty Mike Montgomery couldn’t quite match him, but he delivered a sparkling outing of his own to deliver the Durham Bulls to victory.

Triple-A International League: Durham Bulls 5, Charlotte Knights (CHW) 2

Mike Montgomery remains inconsistent. Even after his latest dominant outing, his ERA stands at just 4.12 on the season. That being said, it had been years since we saw Montgomery look this good even once. Against Charlotte, Montgomery went 8 innings allowing just 2 runs on 2 hits, striking out 7 while walking 1. Josh Phegley hit a 2-run homer for the Knights in the top of the first inning, but Montgomery went on lockdown after that. He was extremely efficient, using just 94 pitches, getting contact early in the count but overpowering hitters on several occasions as well. We heard buzz about Enny Romero possibly being called up by the Rays, but if any Bulls starter is going to be called up for an extended period of time, it is going to be Montgomery.

Montgomery was unable to complete the game as Jeff Beliveau struck out 2 in the 9th for the save. That doesn’t put any sort of damper on how good Montgomery was. On the offensive side, Jerry Sands went 1 for 3 with a homer, a walk, and 3 RBI, Mike Fontenot went 2 for 4 with an RBI, and Kevin Kiermaier went 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored. Sands has cooled off in a big way after a hot start, but he still has a .267/.357/.497 line on the season and it will be interesting if the Rays give him a look in September if not sooner.