Cardinals take series against Yankees as Jordan Montgomery dominates against former team

Jordan Montgomery beat the Yankees for the second time since they traded him last summer, pitching the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-1 win over Gerrit Cole on Sunday that completed a disappointing 3-3 trip for New York.

“I was excited to faceoff against Gerrit,” Montogmery said. “He was supposed to duck me and pitch yesterday and then the rain happened, and we ended up locking horns. We were texting about it and just excited about it. It was definitely fun.”

On a day Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected for the fifth time this season, Montgomery (6-7) allowed an unearned run, two hits and three walks in 6 2/3 innings. He held New York hitless until Gleyber Torres doubled with two outs in the sixth.

“He was pounding the zone with everything he had,” Cardinals catcher Andrew Knizner said. “Down and away, inside hard, soft, he pretty much had a great mix of everything. Everything was working. Everything was getting outs.”

Montgomery, a 30-year-old left-hander, made his big league debut with the Yankees in 2017 and was traded to the Cardinals last Aug. 2 for centerfielder Harrison Bader. Montgomery beat the Yankees four days later, giving up two hits over five scoreless innings.

“Monty was pretty tough on us and got himself into control on us,” Boone said. “I had a little bit of an issue there on how they got their relief pitcher in the game therein the seventh inning in my view and when they weren’t prepared for that in my view and when PitchCom malfunctioned to stall and things like that. I thought that wasn’t handled correctly.”

Givoanny Gallegos relieved after Jake Bauers’ two-out RBI single in the seventh and struck out pinch-hitter Billy McKinney. Gallegos walked Oswaldo Cabrera on four pitches starting the eighth, then retired his next three batters.

Jordan Hicks allowed a hit and a walk in the ninth, then retired Kyle Higashioka on a groundout to end a three-hitter.

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With the Cardinals ahead 2-1, Brendan Donovan hit a two-run homer in the seventh off Jimmy Cordero.

New York (46-38) is 11-13 since reigning AL MVP Aaron Judge tore a ligament in his right big toe on June 2 while making a catch at Dodger Stadium.

DJ LeMahieu went 0 for 4 and is hitting .167 (13 for 78) in his last 21 games. Boone was ejected by plate umpire Dan Merzel while Torres was batting in the third. The manager complained from the dugout over a 3-1 pitch to LeMahieu that was called a strike despite being well above the strike zone. Boone has been ejected 31 times during his managerial career.

“I think Dan is a really good, young umpire,” Boone said. “The rope and the leash was very short though. I had a real problem with that. The sensitivity on that and just the quick throw out was brutal, was ridiculous. You’ve got to have thicker skin than that. You’ve got to have a little bit of room to let us say something. We said one thing, hand up, out. That’s wrong, in my opinion, especially coming from what I think’s got a chance to be a really good young umpire.”

New York split a six-game trip that began in Oakland against the major league-worst Athletics and ended at the Cardinals, who are last in the NL Central.

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Cole (8-2) allowed two runs and in five innings with two walks and five strikeouts.

“I thought it was a solid day,” Cole said. “I made a lot of good pitches, a couple of mistakes, and battled through the fourth inning.”

Jordan Walker and Knizner hit run-scoring singles in the fourth. St. Louis added a run in the eighth when Dylan Carlson stole third and continued home when Higashioka’s threw bounced down the left-field line for an error.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Yankees: LHP Carlos Rodón (left forearm strain) could make his Yankees debut Friday at home against the Chicago Cubs after making three minor league injury rehabiliation starts.

Cardinals: RHP Drew VerHagen (right hip impingement) was placed on the 15-day injured list. LHP JoJo Romero was recalled from Triple-A Memphis.

UP NEXT

Yankees: RHP Domingo Germán (5-5, 4.54 ERA) will make his first start Monday since throwing the 24th perfect game in major league history on Wednesday at Oakland. RHP Tyler Wells (6-4, 3.21 ERA) starts for visiting Baltimore in the opener of a four-game series.

Cardinals: RHP Miles Mikolas (4-5, 4.44) will face LHP Braxton Garrett (4-2, 3.53 ERA) on Monday night in the opener of a four-game series at Miami.