Jamie Moyer, Jered Weaver Hurl Phils, Angels to Victories

Players of the Day for Friday, May 7, 2010 American League Out of last place, the LA Angels may be making some progress toward the top of the AL West standings. After Friday's 8-0 whitewash of the Mariners (losers of 7 straight and now occupying last place in the division), the Angels are 3 1/2 behind the Rangers and 2 1/2 back of the second-place A's. At 13-18, LA still has a long way to go before earning any level of respect, but Jered Weaver's, latest, a 3-hit, no-run, 7 1/3 inning stint, is a huge positive for the struggling squad. Weaver was not by any means dominant, throwing 117 pitches and walking three batters, but he battled and kept the Mariners off the scoreboard while his teammates scored 4 runs in each of the 1st and 4th innings. Pitching with a huge lead, Weaver was able to mix up his pitches and keep Seattle's hitters in check as he improved his record to 4-1, with an ERA on 2.66 and a solid 1.05 WHIP. Weaver struck out 7, giving him 47 in 44 innings this season. He was 10th in the AL in 2009, fanning 174 batters. National League Other than Troy Glaus, the Atlanta Braves simply couldn't touch ageless Jamie Moyer Friday night. Glaus registered the only two hits against the 47-year-old hurler, who became the oldest player in the history of baseball to throw a shutout, bettering the old mark - set by Phil Neikro back in 1986 - by nearly a year. After Glaus got the Braves' first hit with a single to start the second inning, Moyer got Matt Diaz to ground into a double play and proceeded to set down the next 16 batters in order. Glaus had his other single to open the 8th inning, but was forced out at second. Moyer finished the inning, getting the next two batters on fly balls and got through the 9th without incident. Moyer struck out 5 and didn't walk any batters. Thanks to the second inning DP, he faced 28 batters, one over the minimum, for the 7-0 Phillies' win, keeping them 2 games ahead of the Mets in the NL East. Moyer improved his record to 4-2.

Longoria Has the Stroke; Ageless Moyer on Target

Players of the Day for Friday, March 26, 2010 American League Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria hit his third homer of Spring and added two singles for a 3-for-4 effort with 2 RBI, scoring 3 times, as the Rays downed Toronto in a 14-10 slug-fest. One of the best young power hitters in either league, Longoria finished the 2009 campaign with 33 bombs and 113 RBI. He seems to be picking up where he left off, having driven in 6 runs over his past four games. This will be Longoria's thrid season in the majors. National League There was a so much talk about Jamie Moyer's ability to contribute at age 46 last year that he wasn't even on the Phillies' world Series roster, but, oddly enough, the Phils kept the ageless one on for another go 'round in 2010. Now 47, Moyer is performing like a fine wine, getting better with age. On Friday, he shut down the Yankees on one hit over 6 2/3 innings, helping the Phillies to a 3-0 win over the team that stood between them and a second straight championship. Moyer fanned six and hasn't walked a batter this Spring. In 11 2/3 innings, he's allowed just 6 hits and 1 earned run, for an ERA that has manager Charlie Manuel smiling: 0.77. Moyer is 258-195 with a 4.22 ERA lifetime and is 42-29 in three seasons with the Phillies. Maybe he's a keeper?

Lee Gets First win in a Month; Moyer Mows Down Marlins

Players of the Day for Thursday, July 16, 2009 American League In limited AL action (2 games), the Cleveland Indians got another solid outing from ace Cliff Lee, who has struggled to a 5-9 record despite quality stats (3.31 ERA, 1.36 WHIP), as they cruised to a 4-1 home win over Seattle. Lee allowed 9 hits and 1 earned run in the complete game victory, fanning six for his first win in over a month. His previous winning effort was also a complete game, a 3-hit shutout over St. Louis on June 14. In the interim, Lee took three losses and two no-decisions, even though he allowed more than 3 runs in any of those starts once. The Indians remain in the AL Central basement, 13 1/2 out. Seattle dropped to 5 games behind the Angels in the West. National League At 46 years old, one would not expect Jamie Moyer to pick up many wins, but the aged hurler is expert at changing speeds and hitting corners even though his fastball barely registers on a radar gun any more. On Thursday in Miami, Moyer was on top of his game, shutting out the Marlins on one hit over 7 innings in a tidy 4-0 Philadelphia win. Moyer put down the first 12 in order before allowing a single and walk in the fifth inning. After that little scare he didn't allow another baserunner before giving way to the bullpen to open the 8th. Raul Ibanez spanked a pair of homers (23 and 24) and Ryan Howard added a solo shot (23) for all of the scoring. The win inproved Philly's lead to 5 games over Florida in the NL East.