Phillies Shut Out Marlins on Moyer 1-Hitter; Ibanez Homers Twice, Howard Once
|
|
|
|
|
Phillies’ ageless lefthanded wonder Jamie Moyer extended his career unbeaten string against Florida in Miami on Thursday with a 1-hit gem. Leftfielder Raul Ibanez’s 2 homers and 3 RBIs and 1st baseman Ryan Howard’s solo blast provided all of the run support needed against Florida starter Chris Volstad as the Phillies shut out the Marlins by a 4-0 score on Moyer 1-Hitter as Ibanez homers twice, Howard once.
With the win, the Phils extended their lead in the NL East over the 2nd place Marlins to 5 games. The 3rd place Atlanta Braves stayed 6 games back of the Phils by defeating the Mets who dropped to 7 1/2 games off of the pace.
There is not a whole lot of text that can be written on this one. Moyer was outstanding going seven innings and throwing 94 pitches while giving up only the 1 hit. He retired the first 12 hitters he faced before 1st baseman Jorge Cantu opened the fifth inning with a single to leftfield. One out later, catcher Ron Paulino walked. Moyer, who faced only 23 hitters through his seven innings, then induced a foul to the catcher and a fielder’s choice grounder to end the inning while retiring the final 8 Marlins hitters he faced. The win was his 13th career victory over the Marlins against but 2 losses. For Moyer, it was his 9th win of the season vs 6 losses and his 255th career win.
Meanwhile, Ibanez opened up the 2nd half of the season, as he did throughout almost the entire 1st half before going onto the DL with left groin strain. After Howard opened the second inning with a single to rightfield, Ibanez followed with a 2 run dinger to left centerfield to stake Moyer to a 2-0 lead. In the fourth inning, Ibanez stroked his 2nd homer, a 1 out solo blast to extend the lead to 3-0. With 1 out in the sixth, Howard capped the Phils’ scoring with a solo shot, his 200th career homer, to rightfield.
A few oddities in this game, both centerfielder Shane Victorino and shortstop Jimmy Rollins were gunned down by Paulino while attempting steals of 2nd base after reaching on singles. Victorino was caught in the first inning and Rollins in the third. Rightfielder Jayson Werth took a strikeout collar for the game fanning 4 times.
Volstad pitched well aside from the 3 dingers, but the Marlins could do nothing with Moyer or with relievers Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero who threw perfect eighth and ninth innings to end the game.
In related news, AP sports writer Steven Wine reports for Yahoo sports:
Newly acquired Phillies RHP Pedro Martinez joined the team and threw on the side before the game.
For the scores of all of Thursday’s games, click here.
In Friday’s game 2, ace lefthander Cole Hamels hopes to begin righting his season opposed by Ricky Nolasco for Florida. On Saturday, Joe Blanton hopes to continue his fine pitching. He is opposed by Josh Johnson who is having a stand-out season for the Marlins.
For all of Friday’s and Saturday’s games, click here and here.
del.icio.us |
digg |
Furl |
Reddit |
YahooMyWeb |