Montas fired two scoreless innings in Monday's 7-0 loss to the Rangers, allowing a hit and a walk while recording two strikeouts.
On a night when the offense disappointed yet again, the 24-year-old right-hander's effort was a high point. Montas encouragingly bounced back from his poorest outing of the season, a one-inning stint against the Astros on Saturday in which he gave up two earned runs on three hits over one inning. Monday's two-inning stint was Montas' longest since he worked 2.2 innings in his first appearance of the season back on April 5, and it also marked his first multi-strikeout appearance. The hard-throwing reliever lowered his ERA by over a full run to 3.24 as well, and given his quick return to action after the aforementioned hiccup two nights prior, it appears he has the confidence of manager Bob Melvin.