Mariners' Montgomery flirts with no-hitter, blanks Padres for 2nd straight shutout

When he took the mound for the Seattle Mariners one week ago, Mike Montgomery authored the finest start of his young career, allowing just five hits while striking out 10 over nine sublime innings against the Kansas City Royals.

Mongtomery, however, managed to outdo himself Tuesday night in San Diego, carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning at Petco Park before settling for a one-hit shutout, his performance lifting the Mariners to a 5-0 victory over the Padres.

Though Montgomery lost his no-hit bid when Yangervis Solarte laced a double to left field with one out in the bottom of the seventh, the 25-year-old rookie still thrust himself into some pretty limited company with his effort.

Montgomery, who made his MLB debut earlier this month, is just the second left-hander since 2012 to record shutouts in successive starts, accomplishing the feat roughly 14 months after Martin Perez of the Texas Rangers twirled consecutive shutouts against the Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics, respectively.

Selected with the 36th pick of the 2008 draft, Montgomery owns a sterling 1.62 ERA with a 0.90 WHIP through the first six starts of his major-league career, tossing no fewer than six innings in each of his outings thus far.