The Yankees were kept silent by a familiar face before eventually losing to the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-1, at Busch Stadium on Sunday.
Ex-Yankees starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery didn’t do his former team any favors on the mound. He no-hit the Yankees through 5.2 innings and recorded six strikeouts in the outing. He eventually allowed one run, three walks and two hits in 6.2 innings of work.
It was Montgomery’s second appearance against his former team. Right after being sent to St. Louis in exchange for Harrison Bader last season, Montgomery pitched five scoreless innings in a 1-0 victory.
His team scored more runs on Sunday and Montgomery remained undefeated in games he started against the team that made him a fourth-round draft pick in 2014.
The first runs of the game were scored in the fourth inning. Yankees starter Gerrit Cole had been dealing then allowed three straight hits to start the frame. It led to an RBI single to rookie outfielder Jordan Walker. Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner extended the lead to 2-0 after an RBI single to center.
Cole eventually went six innings and allowed two runs. He gave up six hits, two walks and struck out five batters.
Jimmy Cordero replaced Cole and allowed a two-run homer to leadoff hitter Brendan Donovan in the seventh. Knizner extended the lead to 5-1 after scoring on a throwing error in the eighth.
Gleyber Torres got his team their first hit in the sixth inning. He then easily stole third with Nolan Arenado nowhere near to catch the second baseman at the base. However, Giancarlo Stanton later flied out to end the inning.
Jake Bauer’s RBI double in the seventh was a few feet short of a two-run home run. The ball bounced off the center-field wall and scored Isiah Kiner-Falefa. The RBI double knocked Montgomery out the game and righty reliever Giovanny Gallegos took over. Gallegos got the final out of the inning in just three pitches.
Righty Jordan Hicks entered in the ninth to secure his team’s 35th win of the season.
Manager Aaron Boone earned his fifth ejection of the season (31st of his career) after arguing a strike call in the third inning. Boone wasn’t pleased with a high strike call on a 3-1 count that would’ve given DJ LeMahieu a walk. LeMahieu later popped out to second. The struggling infielder went 0-for-4 and now has just 13 hits in his last 78 at-bats (.166 average).
The Yankees entered Sunday with a 10-4 record in rubber games, but failed to improve on it after losing the series finale against the Cardinals.
The Bronx Bombers are back in action on Monday to begin a seven-game homestand against the Baltimore Orioles. Domingo German is expected to take the mound against Orioles right-hander Tyler Wells. It’ll be German’s first game since twirling the fourth perfect game in franchise history.
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