MIAMI — 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,” Phillies 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. He retired the first 12 batters before Jorge Cantu lined a single to start the fifth for Florida’s lone hit. “They put a lot of balls in play early in the count,” Moyer said.
“You have to tip your hat to Moyer,” Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “It seems we’re always saying that.”
The 29-year-old Howard hit his 23rd homer of the season in the sixth inning to reach the 200 milestone in 658 games, faster 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.”
Raul Ibañez hit two home runs, giving him 24.
