Detroit — Keider Montero raised his hands to the heavens after handing the ball to manager AJ Hinch and then walked off the field to a thunderous ovation from the matinee crowd of 31,777 at Comerica Park.
The appreciation was well-placed and well-earned. Where would the Tigers be this season without the versatile and feisty right-hander from Venezuela? Certainly not nipping at the heels of the American League Central Division-leading White Sox, who are coming in for three games this weekend.
Montero delivered 6⅓ scoreless innings Thursday, helping the Tigers take the rubber game against the Cleveland Guardians, 3-0.
Again within a game of .500 (60-61), the Tigers were three games behind the White Sox and in a virtual tie with the Rangers for the final wild-card spot at game’s end.
Valencia POWER 💣 pic.twitter.com/nYk8Aj697M
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) August 13, 2026
The Tigers’ hitters had their hands full with Guardians lefty Parker Messick, who struck out six and allowed three hits in 5⅔ innings.
One hit was a booming solo homer by rookie Eduardo Valencia with two outs in the sixth inning. He launched a curveball into the left-field seats for his fifth home run.
BOX SCORE: Tigers 3, Guardians 0
The first run came in the third, which was the only other inning besides the sixth that the Tigers put runners on base against Messick. And they loaded them.
Javier Báez, who made his first career start in left field, led off with a hustle double. He seemed to bait left fielder Jo Adell, taking his time strolling to first base and then turning on the jets and beating the throw into second.
Messick hit Ben Malgeri and walked Gleyber Torres to load the bases.
Báez scored on a ground out to third by Dillon Dingler and that’s all the Tigers got out of the inning. Messick slammed the door, striking out Kevin McGonigle and Valencia.
An RBI single by Spencer Torkelson in the eighth capped the scoring.
Montero stranded Chase DeLauter at third with one out in the first inning and then cruised into the sixth, retiring 10 straight hitters. He gave up a two-out single to DeLauter and walked Jose Ramirez in the sixth but got the dangerous Nathaniel Lowe to fly out to left.
Montero, who lowered his ERA to 3.22, managed to record 19 outs without allowing a run or posting a strikeout.
Lefty Tyler Holton got the game to the ninth and closer Kenley Jansen, posting five key outs and getting through the top two hitters in the Guardians’ lineup — Steven Kwan and DeLauter.
Holton has allowed just two earned runs in his last 17 innings over 15 games.
Jansen pitched a clean ninth to earn his 15th save this season and is nine away from 500 for his career.
This story will be updated.
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
@cmccosky
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Keider Montero shuts down Guardians, propels Tigers to series win