Jamie Moyer Keeps Pitching and Winning

Jamie Moyer is 46 years old, and while hitters don't fear him anymore, he relies on his smarts to win games.

It's why Charlie Manuel kept his faith in having Moyer start the first game of a crucial four-game series between the Phillies and Marlins, instead of using his ace, Cole Hamels, who will pitch tonight against Ricky Nolasco.

Moyer rewarded Manuel's faith by pitching seven shutout innings last night in the Phillies' 4-0 victory against the Marlins, taking the first game of a four-game set at Land Shark Stadium.

This has to be Moyer's best performance of the season, based on his pitching performance thus far. He was sharp, got ahead of the hitters the entire night, and he used all of his pitches to confuse the Marlins' hitters.

It was something Chris Volstad should have paid attention to last night, because what Moyer did, is what Volstad should do to be successful. Volstad pitched well, but he continues to throw only a few type of pitches, and he continues to give up the long ball; as he did last night by giving up a two-run blast to Raul Ibanez and a solo home run to Ryan Howard.

Moyer started off well by retiring 12 men in a row to start the game, and that was enough for him to know he was going to have his way with the Marlins for the umpteenth time.

The Marlins had their best scoring opportunity in the fifth inning when they put a couple of men on base, but being the sage pitcher Moyer is, he figured out how to get out of it by forcing Cody Ross to pop out to Moyer's catcher. Brett Carroll then grounded out for the final out of the inning.

The Marlins must regret not being able to take advantage of Moyer's struggles in that inning, because from there on, Moyer pitched well for a few more innings, until he gave way to Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero to finish the game.

After the game, the Marlins could only tip their hats to Moyer. Though, Hanley Ramirez thought Moyer received help from the home plate umpire the entire night. Ramirez was obviously frustrated, after going hit-less against Moyer in his three at-bats.

Yes, Moyer's 13-2 record against the Marlins may have made Manuel's decision easy, but still, one would expect the law of average to favor the Marlins' side. It didn't matter on this night, and credit Moyer for that.

He has been known to make good pitches even at his old age, and while his ERA stands at five, it's hard to count him out. He has a knack of stepping up in games that he needs to win, and it showed in the playoffs last year.

Moyer knows how to win, and it's something no one can teach. For him to be pitching at that age and chugging out victories, it says a lot about him as a pitcher in terms of perseverance and intelligence.

The thought was Moyer was going to retire on top by winning a championship for his hometown team. It's a great way to end a career, and John Elway did it right by retiring after winning back-to-back championships.

On the other hand, why retire when a player continues to produce and win ballgames, not to mention he still loves the sport? Maybe it's understandable why Brett Favre does not want to retire.

Maybe this is the year Moyer retires if he continues to pitch poorly this season, but if he pitched like he did last night, he can go pitch until he is 50.

Often times, we look down on guys who are getting old starting when they are at their mid-to-late thirties.

We ought to appreciate Moyer for pitching at his age, and being good at what he does.

Last night showed why.