Moyer mauls Marlins to Phils win

MIAMI (AP) - June 12, 2008 Chase Utley, Pat Burrell, Jimmy Rollins and Pedro Feliz all had two hits for the first-place Phillies, who moved three games ahead of the Marlins in the NL East.

Moyer (7-3) allowed only two hits in eight innings, striking out three, walking one and trimming his ERA from 4.56 to 4.12. He remained perfect against Florida - 9-0 in nine career starts.

He befuddled the Marlins with an array of off-speed offerings good enough to silence the team that has hit more homers so far this year than any team in baseball. Moyer struck out Robert Andino to end his night, getting him to flail at a 71 mph curveball.

Brad Lidge pitched the ninth for his 18th save in as many chances for the Phillies, only giving up a one-out single to Jeremy Hermida.

Florida starter Scott Olsen (4-3) singled off Utley's glove in the sixth to end the no-hit bid, and Cody Ross singled in the seventh for Florida's lone hits off Moyer - whose 565th career start was among his best.

Moyer had thrown eight or more innings of shutout, two-hits-or-less ball only twice before.

As a rookie with the Chicago Cubs in 1986, he no-hit the Montreal Expos for 6 1-3 innings before settling for a two-hitter. Nearly 20 years later, he matched that feat, throwing another two-hitter June 2, 2006, for the Seattle Mariners against the Kansas City Royals.

Olsen threw seven innings, allowing two runs - one earned - and six hits while striking out seven.

He simply got outpitched Thursday by a man 21 years his senior.

Entering the bottom of the sixth, the 45-year-old Moyer was 1-for-2 at the plate, while the Marlins were a combined 0-for-15. Moyer's bid for history ended by an inch, maybe less.

With one out, Olsen - an .077 hitter against left-handers in his career to that point - hit a liner to Utley at second base. Utley leaped and simply wasn't high enough; the ball skipped off the very top of his glove, falling in for a hit.

Busting the no-no probably wasn't enough to lighten Olsen's mood, considering what happened minutes earlier.

With runners on second and third and two out in the top of the sixth, Olsen got ahead 0-2 against Ryan Howard. But his third pitch was in the dirt and hopped away from catcher Matt Treanor, who scurried to retrieve the ball - which he tossed over Olsen's glove and toward the Phillies' dugout.

Rollins and Shane Victorino scored on the play, giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead.

Olsen struck Howard out swinging on the very next pitch, then screamed into his glove as he walked off the mound.

The Phillies made it 3-0 in the eighth, when Jayson Werth's two-out single off Matt Lindstrom drove home Utley.

Notes: Phillies catcher Chris Coste wasn't with the team Thursday. His wife, Marcia, gave birth to the couple's second child, Camryn Marie, on Wednesday night. ... Florida visits Tampa Bay in a Sunshine State series starting Friday, while Philadelphia's trip continues in St. Louis. ... The Marlins summoned INF Robert Andino to take the roster spot held by OF Jacque Jones, who was designated for assignment Thursday. Jones hit .108 in 18 games with Florida, even worse than the .165 he managed in 24 games with Detroit earlier this season.