ST. LOUIS — When he was going through a winless month of May, Jordan Montgomery knew that at some point his luck would change.
It happened in June.
Montgomery made five starts for the Cardinals in May without a win, posting a 6.04 ERA, while going through a stretch of 10 consecutive starts in which the team was 0-10.
Montgomery capped off a much better month of June on Tuesday night, guiding the Cardinals to a win over the Astros that snapped their five-game losing streak at Busch Stadium.
After allowing an unearned run in the first inning, Montgomery gave up just a solo home run as he pitched into the seventh inning in the opener of the three-game series.
Montgomery improved his June record to 3-1 as he lowered his ERA in five starts to 1.70, allowing six earned runs in 31 2/3 innings this month.
Here is how Tuesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: After falling behind 2-0, the Cardinals tied the game on a home run from Paul DeJong leading off the third inning and a sacrifice fly by DeJong with the bases loaded in the fourth … Nolan Arenado put the Cardinals in front with a double following a walk to Paul Goldschmidt in the fifth, and he later scored on a wild pitch to give the Cardinals a two-run lead … Jordan Walker extended his hitting streak to 16 games with an infield single in the fourth … The Cardinals did not have a hit after the fifth inning … Goldschmidt struck out in his three other plate appearances.
On the mound: The lead-off homer in the third was only the second home run Montgomery has allowed in June. He then retired 13 of the next 14 hitters he faced before giving up a double, single and walk that loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh that ended his night … Giovanny Gallegos got the third out on a line drive to left, then pitched around a two-out single in the eighth … Jordan Hicks retired the side in order in the ninth to earn his fifth save in the last 10 days.
Key stat: In his five consecutive saves, Hicks has retired 14 of the 18 hitters he has faced, allowing three hits and hitting one batter, giving up only one run over five innings while striking out seven and walking none.
Worth noting: The 16-game streak by Walker is the longest by a Cardinal this season. He had been tied for the team-high at 15 consecutive games with Nolan Gorman … Walker has at least one hit in 34 of the first 40 games of his career … After being cleared by team doctors, Jack Flaherty’s next start was scheduled for Saturday against the Yankees … The Cardinals have allowed at least one run in the first inning in eight of their last 11 games … This was the Cardinals’ first game against the Astros since 2019.
Looking ahead: Miles Mikolas will get the start in the 6:45 p.m. game on Wednesday night, the middle game of the series.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains.
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