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Moyer, Howard lead Phils past Marlins 4-0

Jul 17, 2009 - 4:21 AM By STEVEN WINE AP Sports Writer

MIAMI(AP) -- The mismatches between Jamie Moyer and the Florida Marlins are becoming more one-sided.

Moyer allowed one hit in seven innings to continue his domination of Florida, Ryan Howard hit his 200th homer to sustain an unprecedented pace and the Philadelphia Phillies extended their winning streak to six games with a 4-0 victory Thursday night.

Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero pitched one perfect inning each to complete the one-hitter.

Moyer (9-6) limited Florida to two baserunners and departed after throwing 94 pitches. The 46-year-old left-hander has won all eight of his career starts in Miami, and he's 13-2 overall against the young, free-swinging Marlins.

"They like to air it out," Phils manager Charlie Manuel said. "They like to swing and hit the ball hard. That kind of plays right into Moyer's game. That's what makes him pitch good."

Moyer rarely reached 80 mph on the radar gun but allowed only two baserunners, retiring the Marlins 1-2-3 in six of his seven innings.

"They put a lot of balls in play early in the count," he said.

"You have to tip your hat to Moyer," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "It seems we're always saying that."

The Phillies enjoy the longest current winning streak in the majors, and they've won 10 of their past 11 games. Resuming play after the All-Star break, they increased their lead over second-place Florida to five games in the NL East to start a four-game series.

"It's nice to win the first game back and try to recreate some of the momentum we took into the break," Moyer said.

The 29-year-old Howard hit his 23rd homer of the season in the sixth inning to reach the 200 milestone in 658 games, fewer than any player in major league history. Ralph Kiner, previously the fastest player to reach 200 home runs, did it in 706 games.

"It's a nice feat," Howard said. "It's a nice record to have. I'll take it and run with it."

All-Star Raul Ibanez hit two home runs, giving him 24 this season.

Moyer came into the game with an ERA of 5.99 but won for the fifth start in a row. He retired the first 12 batters before Jorge Cantu lined a single to start the fifth for Florida's lone hit.

"It was a pretty good pitch - a fastball down," Moyer said.

Ronny Paulino walked with one out, but Moyer retired the next two batters to escape. Those were the only baserunners allowed by Moyer, who improved his career record to 255-191.

NL batting leader Hanley Ramirez went 0 for 3 and grumbled that home plate umpire Bob Drake gave Moyer a generous strike zone.

"He got a lot of calls," Ramirez said. "There's nothing you can do about it. It's tough when he gets so many calls like that and you can't concentrate on what you are doing."

Moyer matched Florida's hit total with a single to hike his average this season to .087. Manuel playfully scolded his pitcher on the bench for the energy he exerted after his hit.

"He got on the bases and he's dancing around and running," Manuel said, laughing. "I was getting on him. He didn't like it."

Said Moyer: "You're supposed to run when you get on the bases, aren't you?"

The Marlins totaled one hit for the fifth time in team history. They've been no-hit only once.

Chris Volstad (6-9) pitched six innings and allowed four runs, all on homers. He has given up 20 home runs this season.

Howard has four homers in 15 career at-bats against Volstad. The slugger became the eighth Phillies player to reach the 200 mark.

The Phils improved to 27-15 on the road, best in majors. They're 4-0 in Miami.

"We finished the first half the way we wanted," Howard said. "It's important to get off to a good start in the second half."

NOTES: Newly acquired Phillies RHP Pedro Martinez joined the team and threw on the side before the game. ... Ramirez began the second half of the season batting .456 with runners in scoring position, best in the majors. ... Marlins C Paulino threw out Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins trying to steal second. ... The Phils' Jayson Werth went 0 for 4 with four strikeouts.