By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND–If this is the path you travel to establish yourself at Major League level, then don’t try this at home.

Frankie Montas’ winding, professional run starting with the Red Sox organization in 2012 as a teenager, followed by trades to three, new clubs, the last a multiplayer deal where the Dominican righthander went from the Dodgers to the A’s isn’t unique, but Montas’ oddysey has rarely provided moments to suggest he could find a role and stick with a big league club.

But Sunday at the Coliseum in the A’s 2-1 win over the Diamondbacks, Montas may have come up with the performance that finally gets him over the hump.

In his first ever start for the A’s after two hands full of forgettable, relief appearances in 2017, Montas was nearly flawless. Throwing his usual smoke–with new and improved, secondary pitches mixed in–he controlled the Diamondbacks, allowing no hits through five innings, before three singles and a run in the sixth. Those three would be the only hits for Arizona the entire game.

“I thought his two-seamer was really good today, which is what he’s been working on. And then his offspeed stuff mixed in to keep them off-balance and make his fastball play that much better,” manager Bob Melvin said in summarizing his pitcher’s appearance.

Montas served up fastballs at 95 plus in the early innings, then liberally mixed in his deceptive stuff, a stew that kept the struggling D’Backs flummoxed. And he worked himself out of a pair of jams: in the fourth, when he allowed both his walks, and the sixth when the three singles lead to Jake Lamb’s run-scoring sacrifice fly and nothing more.

“I feel really comfortable as a starter,” Montas said with the help of interpreter Juan Dorado. “It’s something I’ve done my whole career and it’s something that I want to do. And now that I’m commanding my fastball a little better, it’s something that I’m working hard on.”

Work was demanded of Montas when he was demoted in July, after he allowed 39 hits in 32 innings of work across 23 relief appearances, including 20 walks and 10 home runs. Those ragged numbers placed Montas as arguably the second-worst among Oakland relievers for one season all-time, and created the possibility the then 24-year old might not get a second chance.

But boldly, he pleaded to be groomed for a starter’s role.

Montas went winless in eight starts at Triple-A Nashville, then a oblique injury ended his frustrating 2017 season. Then this season he wasn’t obviously new-and-improved at 1-5 with an 3.24 ERA for Nashville, but he had some, positive stretches and became accustomed to the rhythm and length of starting.

When Oakland’s rotation continued to take hits, the latest injuries to Brett Anderson and Andrew Triggs, Montas–with his signature fastball still creating intrigue–got another shot.

And he delivered.

Jonathan Lucroy homered–his first as an Athletic–in support of Montas. After the Diamondbacks tied it in the sixth, Matt Chapman delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the inning.  Chapman’s single scored Matt Olson to put the A’s up 2-1.

Relievers Yusmeiro Petit, Lou Trivino and closer Blake Treinen finished the Diamondbacks in short order. The trio expended just 32 pitches in retiring the final nine Arizona batters consecutively, while striking out four.

The quiet, abrupt end to the game shed light on the depth of Arizona’s woes. After losing Saturday and Sunday, the D’Backs have lost 15 of 17 while scoring just 34 runs total. Amazingly, seven of those 34 came in Friday’s win, vividly illustrating how stark their offense has been since they started the season 24-11, the best 35-game start in the Diamondbacks franchise’s history.

“It’s just not going the way we want it to right now, but we have to keep together,” said Arizona’s David Peralta. “We just have to keep together, we have to keep fighting every day and we have to play with the same mentality–positive–and things are going to turn.”

The A’s have won nine of 13, and gained ground for a second straight day in the AL West. They are now 5 1/2 games behind the first-place Astros.

The A’s open a four-game set with the Rays on Monday with Trevor Cahill facing the Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer at 1:05pm.