Jamie Moyer ties Bob Feller with 266th win by beating the Tribe, 2-1.
View full sizeFeisty Bob Feller probably wouldn't mind being reactivated by the Tribe to try for career victory No. 267, which would put him one ahead of Philadelphia's Jamie Moyer. Moyer beat the Tribe 2-1 Tuesday night to tie Feller at No. 35 for all-time wins. Boy, talk about adding insult to insult: Jamie Moyer, who was pitching in the Majors when most of the Indians were sweating over whether they'd make a T-ball team, Tuesday night held the Tribe to two hits over eight innings in a 2-1 win, and tied Indians legend Bob Feller with 266 career wins.
That's the bad news; the good news is that the Tribe won't have to face him anymore. At least not this season. At 47, Moyer has that easy lefty motion that seems like it could keep him on a big league mound for another 23 years.
Here's how Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer tells the story of last night's Phillies win at Citizens Bank Park:
In his last two starts, Moyer has allowed just three runs and five hits over 16 innings and if you erase his one disastrous start at Fenway Park earlier this month, he is 8-5 with a 3.57 ERA. Moyer, 8-6, picked up his 266th career victory, tying Hall of Famers Eppa Rixey – a former Phillie - and Bob Feller for 35th on the all-time list."He was a great pitcher in his day," Moyer said when asked about Feller. "He was another guy I didn't see pitch. I guess if you stick around long enough you're going to catch some guys."
Moyer also caught Robin Roberts, another former Phillie, in a more dubious category. When Russell Branyan launched a two-out home run into the second deck in the fourth inning, it was the 505th home run allowed in his career, tying the late Roberts for the most ever.
"He's probably laughing at me right now," Moyer said. "The only thing I think about when I hear that is I had a lot of chances to do it."
Just to state the obvious, it took Moyer 23 seasons to do what Feller was able to do in 18, including the 1945 season, in which he went 5-3 in only nine starts. Had Rapid Robert not interrupted his career to serve in the Navy during World War II, there's little doubt he'd easily have exceeded 300 wins.
Which doesn't say diddly about Tuesday night's debacle. Call it a Pyhrric victory at best (look it up).
Another tiny bright spotBranyan's home run made him the 322nd different batter to homer off Moyer. Pyhrric victory No. 2. More hope
Offshoreinsiders.com noted that the Indians are 7-3 when playing on a Wednesday this season. Dear Mr. Selig: Can you please reschedule ALL Indians games for Wednesdays? It's the Tribe's best chance at finishing over .500, and it'll only take another 93 weeks. From The Plain Dealer
Trust beat writer Paul Hoynes to find a ray of sunshine in yet another Indians loss. His game story notes that starter Mitch Talbot was able to rebound from a bad start against the Mets, an 8-4 loss in which he surrendered a season-high 13 hits.
Talbot (7-6, 4.08) . . . allowed two runs in seven innings. The Phillies scored both runs in the first inning.
Talbot, 26, was asked if he'd like to be pitching at 47.
"If the game lets me and my body lets me, I'll be here," he said.
Besides, Starting Blocks thinks it'd be only fair if Talbot got another shot at beating Moyer, who probably will still be pitching.
And in his Indians Insider column, Hoynesie reports that lefty Aaron Laffey would get the start on Friday that normally would have belonged to demoted starter David Huff.
Still TBD: "Who gets sent down when Laffey is added to the roster Friday to face Cincinnati at Great American Ball Park?"