Moyer Does It
Need a victory against the Marlins? Throw Jamie Moyer on the mound. He never loses to them.
Moyer Does It
Todd Zolecki
If the Phillies ever need to stop a losing streak, there’s nobody they would rather have on the mound than Cole Hamels.
Unless they’re playing the Marlins.
Then they want Jamie Moyer. He pitched superbly last night in a 3-0 victory over the Marlins at Dolphin Stadium, which allowed the Phillies to avoid a Marlins sweep. In eight shutout innings, Moyer allowed just two hits and one walk and struck out three. He improved to 9-0 in nine career starts against the Marlins.
Pitchers, like hitters, simply have teams they play well against:
- Steve Carlton went 38-14 with a 2.98 ERA in 59 career starts against the Cardinals, the team that traded him.
- Curt Schilling went 13-5 with a 2.42 ERA in 26 appearances against the Mets, although he also went 13-4 against the Marlins and 16-9 against the Padres.
- Hamels is 3-0 with a 0.60 ERA in three starts against the Reds.
Time to start thinking about aligning that rotation for September, when the Phillies play the Marlins six times?
"That's a pretty good ways off," Charlie Manuel said. "If we get there in first place, hell, we'll do something. See if we can get the 45-year-old to throw a couple out of those three."
"We'll see what happens," Moyer said, smiling. "Put a roof on this place and some air conditioning on and I'll try it."
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In the Phillies Notebook, Jayson Werth had a little scare when he learned he would be catching last night.
Except it was a joke.
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Pitching match ups for this weekend's series against the Cardinals.
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About to hop on a plane, so that's all for now.
Comments (40)
Moyer was clutch and clutch is everything. But when are the Phils going to do something about the two giant blackholes in the offense - Howard and Ruiz? Anyone but those two at bat with the bases loaded and it would have been a rout.— scotty82- In his home town, it'd be something if Manuel sent a message to Howard and either flipped him and Burrell in the line up, or benched him a couple games for Dobbs. It's almost time to consider it for real; Howard's killin us.— scotty82
- I was just thinking.....Too bad Jamie was at 102 pitches. It would have been GREAT to see him pitch a complete game shut-out! But....Yes, I'll say it again........Brad Lidge is the best money the Phils ever spent! 18 for 18! Wonder what Wagner's #'s are? LOL!— Norma
- NORMA: If we're going to limit anyone on the staff to 100 pitches, it has got to be Moyer. Please do not hammer me for what I'm about to say. I love Moyer. He is dependable. He's great for the staff and the ball club. BUT, he has a tendency to wear down as the season goes on. Remember last year? Early on he was consistently going deep in games and pitching well. He really tailed off late in the season. As much as what he's doing now is great, we've got to think long-term with him. We're not even halfway through the season and we'll need him to pitch this well in September and October, too.— bski
- scotty82.......Ruiz's lack of hitting is pretty much why he and Coste are *platooning* behind the plate. Rather than Chris being the back-up. It's been pretty much 50/50 lately. Or at least 60/40. Ruiz is Jamie's "regular" catcher. But, in my opinion, they should have brought Coste in off the bench.— Norma
- NORMA: Wagner is 13 out of 18 in save opportunities.— bski
- Can'tsee comments posted, what's going on today?— Mark1npt
- bski........THANKS, again!!! Guess that's about 1/3 of games he's blown. And 3 of them have been this week! Would LOVE to see Chase, or his old nemesis, Pat, get a *walk-off* off of him when I'm at the game on July 4th. Then again, how the Mets are tanking this year, we probably won't get the opportunity to see 'ol Wags.— Norma
- It would be nice if Cholly sent a message by either benching or demoting Howard in the order but it won't happen. Cholly's not into embarrassing his players and that's the only way Howard (and his Dad) would take it. By their account they've already been disrespected in this town. The other downside is Burrell has enjoyed a nice year thus far and changing places in the order may screw that up, which we can't afford. I would however give Howard the bunt sign anytime the shift is on and fine him heavily if he doesn't lay one down the 3rd base line. Howard on 1st via bunt is much better for the "team" than Howard hitting into another DP or walking back to the dugout shaking his head after yet another dismal flailing strikeout.— Mark1npt
Mets are up against the Rangers this weekend at Shea. If things don't go well, that will be an ugly scene. Phils need to break out the bats tonight and get Kyle some run support. Interesting that the Phils and Cards have identical 40-28 records, and they are the only 2 teams not in interleague play tonight.— bobby- If Howard can't show some signs of life this weekend in his hometown, it is definitely time to make a change. We would be able to carry him for a while if the offense was humming along, but we are struggling to score lately. The pitching needs more support and we can't go indefinitely with him in the cleanup spot. We are only six games into a tough stretch where we're going to need offensive production, especially from the middle of the lineup. If Howard can't turn it around, he's either got to be dropped down a spot or two in the order or he needs to start sitting out some games.— bski
- The time to switch Burrell and Howard in the order was over a month ago. I guess Manuel's afraid to upset Howard but it made even more sense a few weeks ago when Burrell was hot. Burrell has tailed off recently. The Phils have done well this season but one has to wonder how many more games they could have won if Burrell had been batting between the two lefties all season. Guess we'll never know. I doubt Manuel will make this change. He's all about 'chemistry'. Send Howard a message and either bench him for a couple of games or move him down in the order.— James TL
- Norma: You probably know this already but last night Coste was not with team since his wife was giving birth to their 2nd daughter :-) Suppose to be back with the team 2night (that's why Werth was the back-up catcher)— KarenA
The Phillies projected starters for this series have a combined ERA of 4.94. The Cardinals three pitchers are a very repectable 3.57. So let's see who wins the series, good pitching or good hitting? They say that pitching always trumps hitting, but my money is on the Phils bats. Look for the Phillies to rake Busch Stadium this weekend. The Cards will get their share too unfortunately, but the Phils ultimately take two out of three to finish 6-3 on the road trip.— RAS- JAMES: There's got to be something going on there. Manuel seems to have a really good read on his players. I'm sure he knows how to handle each one of them. He benched Rollins last week because he knew he could deal with him in that way. Either Rollins requires that a strong message is sent or Manuel knew Jimmy could handle it. Probably a bit of both. Maybe Howard has a more delicate psyche and Manuel feels he can't push him that hard without causing some damage. Manuel did sit Howard for a couple games a while back. Maybe Charlie feels it's not the best way to handle Howard. Whatever the case, he's got to deal with this issue in some fashion. We just can't continue with him in the cleanup spot. I agree that Burrell and Howard should have switched places in the order a while ago. The only logical thing I can come up with as to why Manuel didn't do it when Burrell was hot is that he figured having a hot Burrell behind him would give Howard some protection and would get him more pitches to hit.— bski
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The Phillies Zone is the place for up-to-the-minute Phillies coverage from the Inquirer.
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