Philadelphia @ Milwaukee preview
American Family Field
Last Meeting ( Sep 27, 2009 ) Philadelphia 6, Milwaukee 5
Jamie Moyer hasn’t acted his age in his last few starts.
The 47-year-old Moyer became the oldest man in major league history to throw a shutout in Philadelphia's 7-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves last Sunday. He’ll try to continue his good early-season run today when the Phillies open a three-game series in Milwaukee.
The left-hander has won three of his last four starts and allowed nine earned runs in 27 innings during that stretch. He’s gone at least six innings each time out.
Moyer lost his spot in the rotation at the end of last season, but he’s got a 4-2 record with a 4.38 ERA in six starts so far this season. He’s struck out 20 and walked only five.
Moyer hasn’t changed his style as he's gotten older. He’s still a finesse pitcher who works the corners effectively and knows how to change speeds to constantly keep hitters off-balance.
The Phillies need strong efforts from Moyer and the rest of their starters because injuries have really hurt their bullpen.
Closer Brad Lidge, who missed all but the final day of April, is the latest to get hurt. He flew back to Philadelphia to be examined and is listed as day-to-day with inflammation in his elbow joint. Lidge is working his way back from offseason elbow surgery.
Dealing with the Phillies won’t be much of a mystery to Milwaukee starter Randy Wolf. The left-hander played with them from 1999-2006.
In Wolf’s first year with the Brewers, he has numbers are similar to Moyer’s this season. The left-hander has a 3-2 record with a 3.95 ERA through his first seven starts. He’s won two of his last three decisions.
Milwaukee’s offense has given Wolf lots of support when he’s won. The Brewers lead the National League in runs and have scored 44 of them in his three victories. Wolf has even helped a little with seven hits of his own.
But Milwaukee hasn’t helped him in the losses, failing to score in either of his two defeats.
Another good start from Wolf could be timely for a team that’s struggling right now. Atlanta easily swept a three-game series from Milwaukee earlier this week as the bullpen gave up 17 earned runs.
That came after the Brewers had won five of their previous six games.