OAKLAND — Frankie Montas has always had the makeup of a prototypical ace. He’s got the strong body type that allows him to pitch deep into games. The blazing fastball to pump by hitters for strikeouts. All that has been missing is the consistency.
He might be figuring out that last piece to his game this season.
Montas carried over his dominant spring training numbers into his first start of the regular season by continuing what has been a strong run of pitching by A’s starters to begin the year. The right-hander followed up six-inning performances by his fellow rotation mates from the previous three games with six strong innings of his own, allowing just one run on three hits with no walks and six strikeouts.