KC's Montgomery tosses second straight shutout
San Diego, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Mike Montgomery tossed a one-hitter and the Seattle Mariners took a 5-0 win over the San Diego Padres in the opener of a two-game set.
Montgomery (3-2) tossed his second straight shutout as he carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and finished the game with seven strikeouts while walking four. He is the first Mariner to have consecutive shutouts since Freddy Garcia in 2001.
Brad Miller hit a two-run home run, Mike Zunino added a solo shot and Austin Jackson drove in one for the Mariners, who had lost five of seven coming in.
Ian Kennedy (4-7) allowed four runs on five hits with a walk and five strikeouts over five innings for the Padres, who have lost four of their last six.
Zunino gave Seattle a 1-0 lead in the third when he belted his ninth home run of the season.
The Mariners padded their advantage in the fourth. Kyle Seager led off with a single and Nelson Cruz followed with a walk. Two batters later, Jackson singled in a run, and Miller followed with his seventh homer of the season for a 4-0 lead.
Montgomery carried his no-hitter into the fifth inning, but ran into a bit of trouble in the frame as a walk and hit batter with two outs left a man in scoring position, but he got pinch-hitter Will Middlebrooks to ground out and end the inning.
After tossing a 1-2-3 seventh, Montgomery got the first out of the seventh, but Yangervis Solarte followed with a one-hop double over the wall in left to break up the no-hit bid. Jedd Gyorko then flied out, and Melvin Upton Jr. grounded out to end the frame.
Montgomery worked a flawless eighth and the Mariners added a run in the ninth when Cruz scored off a bad throw from Clint Barmes on a Brad Miller grounder.
Montgomery worked around a walk in the ninth and finished the game on his 113th pitch by getting Solarte to fly out.
Game Notes
Montgomery has lowered his earned run average to 1.62 in his rookie season. He pitched a five-hit shutout against Kansas City last Tuesday ... San Diego recalled Gyorko from Triple-A El Paso and placed infielder Cory Spangenberg on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday.