PIRATES

Mason Montgomery's scoreless streak stretched to 12 games with one scoreless inning as an opener in the Pirates' 7-2 win over the Rockies this afternoon here at PNC Park. 

Montgomery, who allowed five runs in his first five appearances in a Pirates uniform, hasn't allowed a run since April 5 and has dominated over his last 12 innings, striking out 16 batters and walking four en route to keeping opposing hitters at bay. 

"I think a big thing with me in the past was just consistency in general, and I think not putting weight on the results," Montgomery said. "I'm sure I'll have outings this year, or in the future, where maybe I throw good pitches and they get hit. I think maybe that's part of it. For me, it's about just trying to not necessarily change anything if an outing goes wrong. Just continue to get back to the plan of getting to two strikes as fast as possible and then executing a good pitch for strike three. Just let the rest be the rest." 

Montgomery raced to two strikes against three of the four batters he faced in the first inning and had little issues converting a good pitch when it mattered most. Jordan Beck, Brenton Doyle and TJ Rumfield all found themselves behind in the count before Montgomery turned to upper-90s fastballs up and out of the zone to generate swing and miss. Montgomery did allow a single to Hunter Goodman on a curveball located in the middle of the zone in the first, but he otherwise executed when he needed to, displaying confidence in a heater that typically touches 98.5 mph and has limited opposing hitters to a .200 batting average. 

"I think that's also a big part of why I don't put too much weight on the results," Montgomery said. "I know my stuff is good, so if I can just compete in the zone early, it's going to set me up for success. Those guys are good, so there may be times where they hit a first-pitch homer or whatever. It happens. But just want to stay consistent and not trying to change or do too much."