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Moyer, Phillies spoil Scherzer's first start

May 6, 2008 - 6:05 AM PHOENIX (Ticker) -- Jamie Moyer tossed seven solid innings and delivered an RBI double as the Philadelphia Phillies cruised to an 11-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday in the opener of a four-game series.

Diamondbacks rookie Max Scherzer (0-1) struggled in his first career start, surrendering five runs - two earned - and seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts over four frames.

Scherzer was spectacular in his major league debut Tuesday, when he tossed 4 1/3 hitless innings of relief with seven strikeouts.

"I just didn't throw enough strikes," Scherzer said. "(I) fell behind hitters and fell behind in the count, just allowed them to be consistent in sitting on my fastball and they did a good job of hitting. Nothing was different, I didn't get ahead the hitters quite as well as I did last time."

Eric Bruntlett had a three-run triple in the seventh and Ryan Howard had two RBI for the Phillies, who are still without star shortstop Jimmy Rollins. The reigning National League MVP went 4-for-4 with three doubles and two RBI on Monday in an extended spring training game.

"Evidently he played good," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said of Rollins. "He was running good. We had one of our minor league instructors (in Clearwater, Florida) and he sent back a good report on him, so evidently he played good and he was running good. Hopefully, we get him back by the end of the week, definitely by the start of next week."

Even without Rollins, the potent Philadelphia offense recorded a season-high 17 hits in this one. The Phillies used a costly error by Diamondbacks shortstop Stephen Drew and an RBI double from Moyer to tag Scherzer for a four-run third inning.

"Lately - especially in the last three or four days - when a team makes a mistake, we definitely capitalize on it or things go our way, like in that (third) inning, it seems like we get a break or something," Manuel said. "But at the same time, I've got to say, we stayed with them and kept going. Their mistakes hurt them tonight."

With the score tied at 1-1, Geoff Jenkins started the two-out rally with an RBI single to center field. Philadelphia then received a little help as Pedro Feliz's likely inning-ending grounder was mishandled by Drew, allowing Howard to score and extend the lead to 3-1.

Carlos Ruiz, who finished with three hits, followed with a run-scoring single and Moyer capped the rally with an RBI double to deep left field. Moyer also had a single in the second.

Moyer (2-2) did his part on the mound as well. The 45-year-old lefthander yielded two runs and six hits with no walks and five strikeouts en route to his first win in his last five starts.

"My feeling is come in here and try to get off to a good start," Moyer said. "It's a big road trip for us, come west of the Mississippi, it's a good way to get started."

"His stuff is basically the same as it's been the last three or four years," Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said of Moyer. "Really the cutter has been the pitch that's kept him pitching at this level, he didn't have that before."

The Phillies, who have won four of their last five games, added another four runs in the seventh on Brunlett's bases-clearing triple and Howard's RBI single extended the advantage to 9-1.

"That was pretty much the story of the game," Brunlett said. "The two big innings there, the error was big, kind of helped us out there. Jamie got in a little bit of trouble and worked his way out of it, then put up another four runs in the top of the seventh, that was pretty much the ballgame at that point."

Chris Snyder blasted a solo shot - his second homer of the season - for Arizona, which has lost three of its last four.