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Fast start lifts Phillies past Marlins

Sep 9, 2007 - 11:37 PM By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) - Aaron Rowand took care of the offense and defense, while Jamie Moyer continued his mastery of the Florida Marlins.

Rowand keyed a two-out, five-run first inning with an RBI double and Moyer pitched five solid innings before tiring as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Marlins, 8-5, in the rubber game of a three-game series Sunday at Citizens Bank Park.

Philadelphia (75-67) remained six games behind the first-place New York Mets (81-61) in National League East. The Phillies moved within two games of the San Diego Padres (77-65) for the NL wild card.

"You're down to almost counting games on your fingers and toes," Moyer said. "We can only concern ourselves with what we need to do and hope the teams ahead of us get knocked off."

The Marlins were the perfect antidote for Moyer (13-11), who struggled with a 1-3 record in his last four starts. He limited Florida to just an infield single through the first five innings.

The 44-year-old lefthander, in his 600th career appearance, improved to 7-0 in his career against Florida, but disagreed with the notion that facing the Marlins made it easier for him.

"The odds are not in my favor when you look at it," Moyer said. "At some point, they're gonna give me a handful. You can throw well and not win and you can throw poorly and win."

Brett Myers nailed down the win by earning his 15th save with a scoreless ninth inning.

"Every series win is big," Myers said. "We're gonna have to put together some good baseball and not make too many mistakes."

Rowand ignited the Phillies in the first inning with both his glove and his bat.

The center fielder made a spectacular catch against the fence in left-center on a deep fly ball by Hanley Ramirez to open the game.

"What do you want me to say?" Rowand asked. "It was a total team effort today."

Rowand then sparked a two-out rally in the bottom half of the frame against Florida starter Dontrelle Willis to help the Phillies score five runs. With runners on first and second, Rowand lined a RBI double to right field to make it 1-0.

"Rowand's catch was big at the start of the game and him getting the big two-out hit was what got us going," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "Rowand can hit in big moments. He's definitely shown that."

Jayson Werth followed with a two-run single before Carlos Ruiz belted a two-run home run into the left field seats to make it, 5-0.

"It was a big first inning for us to get out and get on the board early like that," Werth said. "I think that set the tone for the game. I think our two-out hitting continues to be good this year."

Philadelphia scored again with two outs in the second after Tadahito Iguchi walked and Pat Burrell hit the first pitch from Willis for a two-run homer, his 27th, to give the Phillies a 7-0 lead.

Willis (8-15) was lifted after three innings. The 25-year-old allowed seven runs on seven hits, including two home runs, with two walks and three strikeouts.

"I left balls up and in and they hit them out of the ballpark," Willis said. "In this ballpark, runs go up in a hurry."

Burrell added a RBI double in the fourth to give what appeared to be a commanding 8-0 lead.

The Phillies had a chance to score more runs in the fifth, but with runners on first and second and one out, Moyer was not given the bunt sign and grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Florida took advantage of that act of charity by scoring five runs on three homers in the sixth inning.

Pinch hitter Reggie Abercrombie led off with a double before Ramirez hit the next pitch from Moyer over the left-field fence for a two-run home run. One out later, Jeremy Hermida launched a solo homer into the second deck in right to cut the deficit to 8-3.

After Miguel Cabrera singled, Mike Jacobs blasted a two-run home run into the same area as Hermida's to pull Florida within 8-5.

"These guys battled, but it's hard to slug every night," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "In this ballpark, you're always an error or hit away from getting back in it."

Antonio Alfonseca replaced Moyer and struck out the next two batters to end the inning.

Moyer went 5 1/3 innings and was charged with five runs on six hits with a walk and six strikeouts.