There was leisure to Frankie Montas’ outing on Friday night against the Detroit Tigers, a confident mound presence that indicated he knew he was in control of the game.
The A’s 28-year-old right-handed starter put his mindset on display in the top of the third when he allowed a slow-rolling infield single to his former teammate, Robbie Grossman, one of only two hits he allowed all night. After Grossman reached, Montas laughed. He twirled the ball in his hand. He was simply in command of the game.
Montas’ ability to dominate the Tigers in Friday night’s game was instrumental in his team’s ability to win it 3-0 to improve to 7-7 on the season. It was the A’s sixth straight victory and their seventh in the last eight games.
When Montas took the mound the Tigers who faced him appeared uncomfortable in the batter’s box. His fastball caused them to fidget, backing away from the plate on pitches that tailed back into the strike zone. His splitter caused them to flail at pitches in the dirt, flinging the head of the bat helpless in hope of making contact. They did that to no avail.
In all, Montas pitched six magnificent innings in Oakland’s victory. He allowed three baserunners and struck out a season-best seven batters.
Montas’ outing was the latest in a string of superb showings from A’s starting pitchers. Dating back to the beginning of Oakland’s six-game win streak on April 9, Oakland starters have pitched 31.2 innings for a 3.13 ERA. It’s a vastly improved result compared to their output in the team’s first eight games of the season when they had a 7.91 ERA, by far the worst in the Majors.
Montas and lefty Sean Manaea have been pace-setters for the A’s rotation since it began its hot streak. In his last two starts combined, Montas has pitched 12 innings while allowing just three hits and one run with 12 strikeouts. Manaea has accumulated the same amount of innings, though he’s allowed three earned runs.
Melvin attributes their respective success to their friendship and an ever-present competitive fire.
“They’re really close,” Melvin said during an in-game interview on Friday. “They’re going to push each other.”
Montas wasn’t the only Oakland pitcher who dominated the Tigers on Friday night. Righty Yusmeiro Petit delivered a scoreless inning in the top of the seventh and lefty Jake Diekman did the same an inning later with three strikeouts.
Like the rotation, the A’s bullpen struggled mightily to start the season but has started to find its rhythm lately. And with the Oakland offense playing very good baseball in the last week, it’s an overwhelmingly positive sign.
On Friday, the A’s simply did enough offensively. They recorded eight hits and scored three runs, the fewest in an Oakland victory this season. Designated hitter Mitch Moreland got the scoring going on a sharp, two-out single through the shift in the bottom of the fourth and catcher Sean Murphy immediately followed it up with an RBI double down the left-field line.
Third baseman Matt Chapman, who has shown signs of breaking out of a season-opening slump, hit his team-best third home run of the year in the bottom of the eighth.
Jed Lowrie, who turns 37 Saturday, continued to deliver the plate. With a fourth-inning double and seventh-inning single, the 13-year veteran set a new career-high for consecutive games with multiple base hits (six) and extended his on-base streak to 11 games.
“He’s having a great year,” Melvin said Thursday. “He’s getting big hits and driving in runs. He’s just the Jed of old. He’s as productive as he’s ever been.”
Even though Friday’s output was nothing to brag about, the A’s offense has been dominant since April 9. It has outscored opponents 40-19, averaging 6.7 runs per game.
Between their offense and pitching, the A’s have gotten into an extremely productive grove since their win streak began in Houston. They’ll go for their seventh straight victory and their first day over .500 on Saturday against the Tigers.
