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| Mike Montgomery gave up three earned runs in 6.0 innings (File photo: Dennis Hubbard) |
Omaha scored in the first inning on a solid single to right field by Clint Robinson. He drove in Jarrod Dyson, who had no problem scoring from second base and didn't even draw a throw from right fielder Chris Aguila. Omaha scored again in the second inning when Irving Falu drove in Lorenzo Cain with a sharp single to center field on an 0-1 pitch to give Omaha the 2-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Mike Montgomery looked strong early, retiring the first nine hitters he faced. He changed speeds and located well with the exception of his curve ball, which he was eventually able to command. He cruised through the first five innings, giving up just a single run.
Montgomery took a 2-1 lead into the sixth inning. He gave up a single to leadoff hitter Ozzie Martinez and two hitters later, he fell behind cleanup hitter Mike Cervenak 3-1, leaving a changeup over the plate and Cervenak knocked it over the left field wall to give New Orleans a 3-2 lead.
After the game, hitting coach Tommy Gregg (who is sitting in for manager Mike Jirschele while he is away on family business) spoke about Montgomery’s outing.
“I thought he had a really good game tonight,” Gregg said. “He commanded his fast ball well – located it well and pitched with a lot of confidence out there. He threw his breaking ball a little too much once in a while, but he kept them off balance. The last time he faced them, he threw his changeup really good, so you could tell that at certain times they were looking for that. He left that one changeup up on 3-1, and it went out for a home run, but other than that, I thought he pitched a great game.”
Gregg said Montgomery just didn’t have a good feel for his curve ball early in the game and that’s why a couple of them got away from him. But he was able to command it as the game progressed. He gave up three earned runs on six hits. He didn’t walk anybody and he struck out five.
This was Montgomery’s third solid outing in a row and Gregg says he can see Montgomery’s confidence growing.
“Each time he’s going out now, he’s getting more confident,” Gregg said. “His tempo is better and he’s ready to attack instead of being defensive, so his body language is better.”
After Robinson Tejeda pitched a scoreless seventh inning, Jeremy Jeffress took the mound for Omaha in the eighth with the Chasers down 3-2. The Zephyrs clobbered Jeffress for six runs in two thirds of an inning and that was the ball game. As is usually the case with Jeffress when he is struggling, Gregg said he lacked command.
“When he doesn’t have a feel for his pitches, he’s just kind of throwing it hoping something will happen,” Gregg said. “Then he gets behind hitters and all of a sudden he tries to throw the fastball by them and they are geared up for it. The whole key for him is to get ahead of hitters and that way he can use his curve ball. When he gets behind he has to throw his fastball and good hitters can time even 95-96 on up when you leave it over the plate.”
Jesse Chavez and Brandon Sisk pitched the final 1.1 innings without giving up a run.
Second place Memphis split a double header with Round Rock, so Omaha has a 1.0 game lead over Memphis in the PCL American North. Omaha and New Orleans will play the third game of a four game series tomorrow night at Werner Park.
