Jordan Montgomery took a dig at his former team the Yankees after another dominant performance for the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night. He joked over being traded by the Yankees in July saying he didn’t remember it anymore.
The 29-year-old was a key player for St. Louis, which thrashed the Cubs 8-0. His role was so integral for the Cardinals that he almost couldn’t think of having with another team and then joining this team a few months ago.
The Yankees traded “Gumby” to St. Louis for Harrison Bader in a surprise July deadline deal. Montgomery threw at his first game for the Cards on August 6 against the Yankees and instantly became a fans’ favorite there for five scoreless innings in the debut game. The Cardinals won 1-0 at Busch Stadium.
Montgomery has been doing so well with his new team that he couldn’t help but joke around with reporters about the Yankees trading him after his most recent victory.
“What trade?” Montgomery asked smiling. He continued, “I don’t remember that. I turned the page. I’m excited to be here and every five days I want to go out and win.”
Since he was traded from the Yankees on August 2, Montgomery has gone 5-0 with an ERA of 1.47. The Yankees are losing on this deadline deal for now. New York center fielder Harrison Bader hasn’t played yet. He is suffering from plantar fasciitis and is under foot rehab.
On Friday night, Lars Nootbaar and Tommy Edman hit home runs, and the Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 8-0 at home. In the seventh inning, Jordan Hicks came in as a reliever and got Zach McKinstry, Nick Madrigal, and Seiya Suzuki to strike out.
Cubs must hate facing Montgomery. The lefty’s scoreless inning streak against the Cubs is now 22. He beat them 1-0 at Wrigley Field on Aug. 21 and threw seven scoreless innings as a Yankee.
“I’m just executing a lot of pitches and throwing three pitches for strikes,” Montgomery told reporters and added “So, I’m going to keep doing that.”
Cardinals star third baseman Nolan Arenado is happy to have the ex-Yankee as his compatriot. “He fits perfectly here and we’re so happy he’s here; he’s a Cardinal,” Nolan told reporters about Montgomery. “I just can’t believe he’s here; it’s been awesome. we’re so fortunate to have him; the third baseman was quoted as saying.
Nootbaar and Edman’s late homers broke open a close 3-0 game for the NL Central-leading Cardinals. Sean Newcomb allowed Nootbaar’s 11th homer and Edman’s 12th.
The Cubs failed to score with 9 chances. David Ross couldn’t explain why his team struggles against Montgomery.
“Tonight, was a little different. I thought he’s been pretty dominant the two times before that we faced him,” according to Ross, who loos unhappy over the the performance of the Cubs, who lost five of their six games played recently. “It didn’t look like he had his best stuff and command, but he found a way with two seamers and got guys to roll over. He just does a nice job of keeping us off balance.”
Was it a grave mistake for the Yankees to trade Jordan Montgomery? What do you think?
