MVN - Most Valuable Network

Johnson sparkles, outduels Moyer

On Tuesday night at Citizens’ Bank Park, the Marlins won 8-2 and hung a loss on Jamie Moyer. Somewhere in hell, the devil just put on his parka.

If the Marlins were ever going to beat Moyer, tonight was the night. Coming in to this game, starter Josh Johnson had a 1.00 ERA and an 0.89 WHIP at Citizens’ Bank Park. Then there was Jorge Cantu. Not only had the third baseman mashed the Phillies to the tune of a .430 average this year and not only is he one of the very few Marlins that has hit the soft tossing lefty well, he was riding a career high twelve game hit streak.

Johnson got off to a bit of a shaky start, getting behind in the count to four of his first seven hitters. He walked the first two men he faced in the 2nd but with the help of the number one Web Gem, a Josh Willingham diving grab that robbed Moyer of extra bases and at least one RBI, he was able to get out of trouble. After that, Johnson found his groove. He threw first pitch strikes to ten of his last sixteen hitters and only gave up one extra base hit, a Pat Burrell double. Johnson’s five hits were the least he’s allowed since returning from Tommy John surgery. It was also the first time since May 10, 2006 that he’s gone 6 innings without allowing a run. Before this game, starting pitchers opposing the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park had a 4.64 ERA. Johnson’s career ERA there now sits at 0.60.

Even though Moyer was way off his game, the offense only managed to touch him up for two runs, one of which came on a bases loaded walk, the other of which came on a fielder’s choice. They stranded seven runners in scoring position. However, they redeemed themselves in full against the Philadelphia bullpen. After Cantu led off the 7th with his second hit of the night, Clay Condrey gave up two two out walks to load the bases and Alfredo Amezaga delivered with a two run single. Since breaking out of an 0-13 slump, he has reached safely four times in his last nine ABs. With Cody Ross‘ power supply starting to short out, Amezaga may run into a few starts coming down the stretch. Jeremy Hermida, who was coming off of a dismal four strikeout effort that got him benched late in Sunday’s game, continued the onslaught in the 8th with an RBI single and capped it off in the 9th with a two RBI double. The right fielder tied a career high with 4 RBIs. A batter earlier, Ramirez sac flied in a run. It was his first August RBI.

The Phillies got their two runs in the 7th on a foul ball that was ruled a two run homer. Ironically enough, instant replay equipment was being tested during the game. It showed that the ball went foul by almost a foot. What is Bud Selig waiting for?

Game two of this huge three game set tonight. With a win, the Marlins could be in first place by the time they hit New York on Friday. After beating Moyer, beating Kyle Kendrick, who they hit at a .314 clip should be a cakewalk. The last time the Fish faced the young righty they beat 7 runs out of him in just 4.1 innings. Kendrick has been better recently, though. He’s coming off of two straight quality starts. Anibal Sanchez’s first start in nearly a year and a half couldn’t have gone much better. Against a hot Rockies team, the lefty gave up just two runs over 5.2 innings. He struck out four and walked two. However, that was at Dolphin Stadium, a pure pitcher’s park. In his career at Citizens’ Bank, one of the most extreme hitter’s parks in the league, Sanchez has struggled, giving up 11 runs over 9.1 innings.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 at 10:42 am and is filed under Game Recaps. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.