Former Gamecock Jordan Montgomery headed to World Series with Texas Rangers

A former South Carolina Gamecock is headed to the World Series.

Pitcher Jordan Montgomery and the Texas Rangers earned a spot in Major League Baseball’s playoff finale with a 11-4 win Monday over the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.

Texas trailed 3-2 in the series but won the final two games in Houston. The road team won every game in the series. It is the Rangers’ first World Series appearance since making back-to-back trips in 2010-11.

Montgomery, normally a starter, came on in relief Monday with Texas up 4-2 and pitched 2.1 scoreless innings to pick up the win. It was his third appearance in the ALCS. He pitched 5.1 innings on Friday in Game 5 and had a no-decision.

It was just Montgomery’s second relief appearance in his major league career.

“I knew coming into today I was going to get in there. I told them I wanted to skip my bullpen and give them everything I got,” Montgomery said during his post-game interview on Fox. “I felt those innings were kind of huge momentum innings to give them everything I could. Obviously the bats woke up and we put together some great at-bats. It was nice to have a lead. I just tried to put up as many zeroes as a I could.”

The Sumter native has provided a big boost for the Rangers after being traded from St. Louis in July.

Before Monday, he was 2-0 with a 2.38 ERA in four postseason appearances this year. In the regular season, Montgomery was 4-2 in 11 appearances with Texas.

“We kind of had our backs against the wall,” Montgomery said. “We showed up and played some good baseball.”

Montgomery is the first former Gamecock to play in the World Series since Jackie Bradley and Steve Pearce both played for the Boston Red Sox when they won the title in 2018. Pearce was World Series MVP.

Montgomery is in his seventh season in the majors and with his third different team. He was a fourth-round draft pick by the New York Yankees in 2014.

Montgomery played at the University of South Carolina from 2012-14 and was 20-7 in 44 appearances for the Gamecocks.

And he might not be the only Gamecock in this year’s World Series.

Former Gamecock Christian Walker is a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and they play the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday.

Game 1 of the World Series is scheduled for Friday.