Jamie Moyer was clearly upset about the team’s decision to move him from the starting rotation to the bullpen after the addition of tonight’s starter, Pedro Martinez. Moyer isn’t a left handed specialist. He is there to serve as a long man. Tonight, Moyer pitched in relief, but had the line of a starter.
The Phillies had a chance for a big inning in the bottom of the first with the bases loaded and nobody out. The problem for the Phillies hasn’t changed; they continue to struggle with runners in scoring position. Ryan Howard struck out, Jayson Werth popped out, and Raul Ibanez grounded out to end the inning. The Phillies were 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, and left 11 men on base.
Stephen Drew greeted Pedro with a lead off home run, but he settled down. He pitched three innings, allowing one run. He gave up two hits and struck out three until the rain came down in buckets. A one hour and six minute rain delay halted play, but when it resumed, the Phillies quickly got on the board.
As shown during the series in Arizona, the Diamondbacks’ defense is horrible. Tonight, the Phils were able to capitalize on Ryan Roberts’ mistakes. He misplayed Jason Werth’s double which scored Chase Utley, tying the game at one. Roberts made a throwing error on Pedro Feliz’s RBI single. It gave the Phillies a lead, and moved the runners up. Carlos Ruiz’s single gave the Phillies a 3-1 lead in the third.
Because of the thunderstorm, Pedro was forced to stop after three innings, however Jamie Moyer filled in nicely. He made his first appearance out of the bullpen since 2004 and officially became the oldest non-knuckleballer to pitch in relief since 1945. Moyer already had success against the Diamondbacks earlier this year, shutting them out in 6.2 innings.
It took only 69 pitches for Moyer to pitch six shutout innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out five. At the plate, Moyer had two hits– the same amount of hits he allowed. It was Moyer’s first multi-hit game since May, 2008.
There was talk about Moyer and Martinez sharing the fifth rotation spot, and it worked like that tonight.”You never know what you get when you put two old goats out there. It’s a scary combination,” said Martinez. Since Martinez did not pitch at least five innings, Moyer was credited with the win. His 257th career win was his sixth win in relief, and first since 1996.
Werth homered in the 5th inning, and Carlos Ruiz homered in the sixth. Werth’s 25th homer of the year set a new career high for the 30 year old.
Moyer came out of the bullpen with a vengeance, and dominated in the Phillies 5-1 win. Against the Diamondbacks this year, Moyer has shut them out in 12.2 innings. Although he relieved, he pitched like a starter tonight.
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