Tigers shut out Guardians without throwing a strikeout in 3-0 win

No strikeouts? No problem for the Detroit Tigers.

The Tigers defeated the Cleveland Guardians 3-0 on Thursday despite Keider Montero, Tyler Holton and Kenley Jansen not striking out a single batter. Yet the Guardians only managed four hits while losing for the ninth time in their past 12 games.

Detroit’s shutout without a strikeout was the first in 12 years, as MLB.com’s Mike Petriello highlighted. The Tigers were also the last team to pull off that feat on July 1, 2014. Rick Porcello did it all by himself, throwing a complete game against the Athletics.

The Tigers’ strikeout-less shutout was also the ninth in MLB since the postseason was expanded to include wild-card playoff teams in 1995. Montero finished with 6 1/3 innings, allowing 3 hits and 1 walk. He became the fifth MLB pitcher in the past 10 season to throw 6 or more scoreless innings without a strikeout.

Detroit took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third when Cleveland starter Parker Messick gave up a leadoff double to Javier Báez, then hit Ben Malgeri with a pitch and walked Gleyber Torres. Báez scored on a groundout by Dillon Dingler, but Messick recovered to strike out Kevin McGonigle and Eduardo Valencia to end the inning.

Valencia put the Tigers ahead 2-0 in the sixth with a home run off a Messick curveball that hung in the middle of the strike zone. Messick got ahead of Valencia on a zero-ball, two-strike count before evening the count at 2-2.

Detroit scored its third run in the eighth on a one-out single from McGonigle, who stole second base to move into scoring position. After Franco Aleman walked Colt Keith on six pitches, he threw a fastball right down the middle of the strike zone that Spencer Torkelson hit for an RBI single.

The Guardians squandered their first scoring chance in the first inning, stranding Chase DeLauter at third base after he singled, stole second base and advanced to third on a throwing error by McGonigle. But Montero got José Ramírez to pop out to third base and Nathaniel Lowe to ground out to second.

In the sixth, Cleveland had runners on first and second with a DeLauter single and walk to Ramírez, albeit with two outs. Lowe chased a high fastball from Montero and flew out to left field.

The Guardians’ skid has dropped them from 1.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox for first place in the AL Central to 4 games back. Cleveland is now in fourth place, 1.5 games behind the Tigers and one below the Twins in both the division standings and the race for the American League’s third wild-card playoff spot.