Jamie Moyer continued his uncanny mastery of the Marlins--he is now 12-1 lifetime against them--and the Phillies took advantage of 11 walks, two hit by pitches, one wild pitch, and several miscues by the Fish to breeze to a 13-2 win yesterday afternoon. A sweep in Florida is sweet; the Fish have now lost six in a row to Pennsylvania teams. Yesterday's game was also the first in which a Phillie pitcher did not allow a home run. (Apprised of that, Moyer's dismissive response was, "Woohoo!") So that particular dubious record stops at 16.
The Marlins have a young, dangerous starting rotation and a power-laden lineup but their bullpen is sketchy and their defense continues to be wretched. If they ever put it all together, watch out.
Raul Ibanez' defense, on the other hand, is not, so far, as advertised. He continues to make nifty defensive plays in the field and smart moves on the base paths. Jimmy Rollins, still slumping, sat again yesterday, then left the dugout after the game with hugs from Charlie Manuel.
Best of all from the weekend, the Phillies look again like their tough, resilient selves.
Jayson Stark being interviewed yesterday about his new book had this salient point: The Phillies last year seemed to have embraced the franchise's negative history and made it work for them while the Cubs by contrast got swallowed up by theirs.
