The Detroit Tigers had to throw it back to a different era of baseball to topple one of their division rivals for an important series victory on Thursday, Aug. 13.
Led by right-handed starter Keider Montero, the Tigers navigated a pesky Guardians lineup for a 3-0 shutout win for their first regular season series victory against Cleveland since July 2025. The Tigers blanked the Guardians despite not striking out a single hitter – an exceedingly rare outcome in the modern, three-true-outcome era of baseball.
The Guardians swung 53 times and only missed the ball twice, but could not do any meaningful damage against Montero or relievers Tyler Holton and Kenley Jansen.
It was the first time any team threw a complete-game shutout without a single strikeout
since Tigers starter Rick Porcello shut out the Athletics himself on July 1, 2014, on 95 pitches. It is the seventh no-strikeout shutout in MLB since 2000, with the Tigers accounting for three of those games, according to Stathead.
Montero, who has oscillated between the rotation and bullpen this summer, set the tone with quick, efficient innings. He surrendered three hits and one walk across 6⅓ innings on just 88 pitches.
"My mentality is always to go out to do my job and do my best to give this team a chance to win," Montero said through Tigers interpreter Carlos Guillen. "Also, I always trust my teammates and trust in the staff. I know they have my back."
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch can't remember being involved in another no-strikeout shutout in the nearly 2,000 games he has managed over his 13-year career.
"I don't know if I have ever seen it live, but I'm glad it was on our end," Hinch said. "Obviously, Montero did an incredible job of pounding the strike zone. He also wiggled out of a couple of scenarios that were less than ideal and got us to a point in the game where we felt really good with Holton."
Montero's final out was a crucial inflection point for Detroit's combined shutout. Jo Adell led off the seventh inning with a ground ball right in front of home plate. Dillon Dingler fielded the ball while Adell's bat bounced off the ground and hit him in the facemask. His throw to first pulled Spencer Torkelson off the bag, but the Tigers' first baseman narrowly got his toe back down before Adell reached safely.
The Tigers crowd showered Montero with praise as he slowly walked to the dugout at the end of his start.
"I am very proud for what happened today, for what I did, and also what we were able to do as a collective," Montero said. "I am grateful for the fans who were doing that standing ovation. It means a lot to me."
The out allowed for a clean entry point for Holton. Hinch went to the versatile left-handed reliever to face a pocket of lefties and switch hitters at the bottom and then top of the Guardians' lineup in the seventh and eighth innings.
Holton had a clean hold over five outs, preserving a three-run advantage for Jansen. The veteran closer picked up his 491st career save with three quick outs in play on 10 pitches.
Detroit's pitching staff has produced six shutouts over the last 14 games. It is the first time in franchise history the Tigers have had that many shutouts in a 14-game span.
"There was a lot to like, from start to finish, in how we got through that game," Hinch said. "That was the first thing after the game, what [pitching coach Chris Fetter] said. He's like, 'no punchouts,' which is just a rarity nowadays."
The win keeps the Tigers (60-61) moving up the American League standings. The Tigers have a 38-23 record since the calendar flipped to June, the second-best mark in baseball in that span.
Detroit has put itself in a tie with the Texas Rangers for the final AL wild-card spot (Rangers still play Thursday at 10 p.m.) and within striking distance of the first-place Chicago White Sox, who come to Comerica for a three-game series starting Friday.
"Every time, we are trying to come to the field to win," said Tigers rookie designated hitter Eduardo Valencia, who crushed a solo home run off Cleveland starter Parker Messick. "Maybe the White Sox, maybe Cleveland. We are just trying to win. Just for us, for the team."
Despite the 6-22 May record that put them in a massive hole, selling their top two starting pitchers at the trade deadline and dealing with a litany of different injuries, the Tigers enter the weekend series with Chicago with a chance at being first place in the Central by Sunday.
"We've been on a roller coaster, but for whatever reason, the makeup of this team has been very consistent," Hinch said. "And it doesn't matter if maybe a guy comes up from Triple-A or a guy comes off the injured list, we've been able to just put one foot in front of the other.
"I'm very proud because we come ready to play every day. You don't see a team that pouts. You don't see a team that sold. You don't see a team that quits."
ContactJared Ramsey at jramsey@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Rare no-strikeout shutout pushes Detroit Tigers up playoff standings
