Moyer beats phenom in desert duel
Arizona's Max Scherzer had the hype going into the game, but Moyer delivered a strong game and allowed just six hits in seven innings of work.
PHOENIX - Jamie Moyer said he got what he deserved Wednesday in a loss to the San Diego Padres.
He fell behind in the count often. He served up a lot of pitches right over the plate.
He had no such problems last night in a 11-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Moyer (2-2) allowed just two runs and six hits in seven innings. He walked none and struck out five.
"It's still a work in progress," Moyer said. "I feel like I've taken some small steps, but the consistency that I would like is just not where I want it to be.
"I felt like I forced myself to throw too many pitches early in the game and created a lot of deep counts for myself, which isn't good for me. I settled in a little bit the second time through the order and made some decent pitches. They made contact. We made some nice defensive plays."
The victory kept the Phillies in first place in the National League East.
They beat a very good team in the process. The Diamondbacks have the best record in baseball. They have been hitting well and pitching even better.
"It's going to be a good test for us," manager Charlie Manuel said before the game.
The Phillies had been struggling to score runs until last night. They still have to face Randy Johnson tonight, Micah Owings tomorrow and Brandon Webb on Thursday afternoon.
After hitting just .206 in their previous seven games, the Phils faced Diamondbacks phenom Max Scherzer last night.
Scherzer entered with plenty of hype.
He made his big-league debut last Tuesday against the Houston Astros and threw 41/3 perfect innings in relief. It was the longest debut in modern baseball history by a pitcher who retired every batter he faced.
He struck out seven batters, too.
But the Phillies didn't have the same problems as the Astros. The Phils scored a run in the first and four in the third to take a 5-1 lead. The third started when Chase Utley doubled. Seven batters, later Moyer doubled to left field to knock in the fifth run.
In four innings, Scherzer allowed seven hits, five runs (two earned) and two walks. He struck out five and hit a batter.
He'll be good. He wasn't last night.
Moyer was. The Phillies tacked on four more runs in the seventh and single runs in the eighth and ninth to win easily.
"It's amazing sometimes how that 98 (mph) gets hit and that 78 (mph) wins, isn't it?" Manuel said.
Extra bases. Pat Burrell snapped his streak of reaching base safely in 30 consecutive games. He went 0 for 5.