NL Beast

Phillies 11 - Diamondback 4

A great game all around from the Phillies. Jamie Moyer pitched 7 fabulous innings of baseball, allowing only 6 hits and 2 earned runs and striking out 5. The 45 year old spent the night methodically painting the plate and tricking batters. Only experience lends itself to the type of game Moyer pitched last night. Oh, by the way, he had no walks.

Moyer’s counterpart, Max Scherzer, the highly touted Dbacks prospect and fastball hurler, did not fair so well. Scherzer only lasted 4 innings, with a line of 7 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, and 5 SO. At times he looked magical, throwing fastballs in perfect spots and catching hitters off guard. At other times he looked inexperienced and desperately in need of another pitch. Take a look at his pitch breakdown:

Through 4 innings, Scherzer pitched almost all fastballs, with the occasional slider and a couple of change ups. His fastball comes in several varieties, but if he can’t develop a curve he’s may very well be destined for the closer’s spot.

As I wrote in the pregame, this game would be sink or swim for Scherzer. The Phils have a ton of strikeouts, but also a ton of homers in this lineup. It was sink for Scherzer and walk on water for the Phils. Rather than go through each batter, let’s just put it this way: Pat Burrell was the only player without a hit. The Phillies totaled 17 hits through the game, pounding pitcher after pitcher for the Dbacks. Even Ryan Howard looked on his game last night. After two smoked balls to outfielders - one an RBI sacrifice - he finally got on the board with a hit. But really, all you need to know last night is that everybody hit.

Despite the great hitting performance, the player of the game still goes to Jamie Moyer. You’d think he was 25 if he didn’t throw like a grandma. Oh yea, he had two hits of his own, including an RBI double, and very nearly a third hit.