ST. LOUIS — Jordan Montgomery’s mastery of his former team continued as he turned in just shy of seven strong innings for the Cardinals in a series-clinching win over the New York Yankees on Sunday afternoon.
The left-hander took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning against his old team and put the Cardinals on the path to a 5-1 win in the rubber match of a three-game series in front of an announced crowd of 44,676 at Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals (35-48) won their first home series since they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three of four games on May 18-21. They went 3-3 in the six-game homestand.
The series marked the fourth regular-season series between the Cardinals and Yankees in St. Louis.
Donovan went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs, while All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Backup catcher Andrew Knizner went 1-for-4 with an RBI, and rookie outfielder Walker went 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Montgomery (6-7) pitched 6 2/3 innings and allowed one unearned run on two hits and three walks. He struck out six.
Relievers Giovanny Gallegos (1 1/3 innings) and Jordan Hicks (one inning) combined for 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Gallegos struck out three, while Hicks allowed a hit and a walk before closing out the ninth inning. The Cardinals led by four entering the ninth, so it was not a save situation for Hicks.
The series win came on Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol’s 37th birthday. The youngest manager in the majors, Marmol’s club is now 2-0 when playing on his birthday.
Walker breaks the ice
Walker’s RBI single up the middle with two men on base in the fourth inning drove in the game’s first run. Walker, who is batting .301, now has 22 RBIs this season.
Arenado, who entered the day batting .474 against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole in 19 previous match-ups, doubled to left field to start the inning. Alec Burleson singled on a soft line drive up the middle to put runners on first and third with no outs.
Walker, who hit a harmless fly ball in his previous at-bat, hit a first-pitch slider from Cole back up the middle into center field as Arenado scored.
With one out and Burleson on second and Walker on first, Knizner swatted an RBI single to left field as Burleson scored.
The Cardinals had another runner, Walker, in scoring position when Tommy Edman (2-for-4) bounced into an inning-ending double play.
Walker came out of the game in the seventh inning when Dylan Carlson entered the game as a defensive replacement in right field. Burleson, who started in right, moved to left field where Walker had started.
Donovan’s seventh-inning homer with Edman aboard gave the Cardinals a pair of insurance runs.
Monty takes no hitter into sixth
Montgomery didn’t allow a hit through the first 5 2/3 innings against his former team. Gleyber Torres’ sixth-inning two-out double to right field was the first Yankees hit in the game.
Montgomery’s longest previous career no-hit bid had been five innings against the Cincinnati Reds while with the Yankees on July 25, 2017.
Montgomery, a fourth-round draft pick of the Yankees in 2014 out of the University of South Carolina, made his major-league debut with the Yankees in 2017. He made the first 98 appearances (97 starts) of his career with the Yankees from 2017 until last year’s trade deadline.
The Cardinals acquired him from Yankees in exchange for outfielder Harrison Bader on Aug. 2, 2022.
Sunday marked his second career start against the Yankees. Last season, Montgomery made his first start against his former team just four days after he’d been traded to the Cardinals. He tossed five scoreless innings and allowed just two hits. He registered his first win for the Cardinals against the Yankees.
The Cardinals held a 2-0 lead until the seventh inning on Sunday. The Yankees scored when Jake Bauers lined an RBI double off the center field wall with two outs. Isiah Kiner-Falefa scored on the hit. Kiner-Falefa reached base on a passed ball against catcher Andrew Knizner on strike three.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol replaced Montgomery with another former Yankee, Gallegos, with a runner on and two outs. Gallegos struck out pinch hitter Billy McKinney to end the inning and strand the tying run on second.
Bye bye Boone
Home plate umpire Dan Merzel ejected Yankees manager Aaron Boone with two outs and a runner on in the top of the third inning with the score 0-0. Gleyber Torres as at the plate with an 0-1 count when Boone lost his cool and came out of the dugout to argue balls and strikes.
Boone’s frustration seemingly stemmed from an early call during an at-bat by DJ LeMahieu. A 3-1 pitch from Montgomery appeared out of the strike zone and high, but it was called a strike. LeMahiue went on to hit a pop-up to second base for the second out of the inning.
Boone has now been ejected an MLB-most five times this season. He has been ejected 31 times in his managerial career. Boone has accounted for five of seven ejections for the Yankees (46-38) this season.
