It wasn’t a win for the ages, but rather the aged.
Jamie Moyer, 47, became the oldest pitcher ever to beat the Yankees, limiting the Bombers to three hits and two runs in eight innings of 80-mph brilliance in the 6-3 Phillies win.
“He lived on the edges and a little bit off them today,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “He had us reaching. When you do that you take the power from our hands.”
Moyer baffled the Yankees with his usual mix of off-speed pitches that look as if they’re going in slow motion but cause hitters to freeze. He had five strikeouts, four looking.
Two of the three hits he gave up were home runs, the other a single by Kevin Russo in the eighth inning. He walked just one batter, Alex Rodriguez in the seventh. It was the first time he pitched with someone on base in the game.
“When they put the ball in play, other than the two home runs, they hit it at someone,” Moyer said.
Moyer is the oldest pitcher in the majors, and he looked it in his last outing when he gave up nine runs in one inning against the Red Sox last Friday. But he bounced back in a major way at Yankee Stadium.
“I don’t worry about him rebounding,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. “Moyer knows what he’s doing.”
Homers by Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada did move Moyer close to a historical mark he does not want. He has now given up 504 home runs in his career, one shy of the record held by Robin Roberts.
Everyone seemed impressed with what Moyer did except him. He was sullen and curt with reporters after the game. At one point someone asked if he was happy and he shot back, “Can’t you tell?”
If he wasn’t, everyone else on the Phillies was. The slumping team got a boost from its veteran left-hander.
“I don’t know about other people,” Manuel said, “but I know I’m amazed at what he can do. The fact that he does it at his age really shows you his love of the game.”