Phillies' Moyer struggles in B game vs. Jays

DUNEDIN, Fla. - For the third straight time in this spring training, Jamie Moyer pitched in a B game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Yesterday morning's exhibition, however, was quite different for the Phillies' 47-year-old lefthander and it wasn't a good different.

His pitching line: five runs - all earned - eight hits, one walk, four strikeouts, three innings and quite a few expletives.

"I didn't think I threw very well," Moyer said after the Phillies' 8-1 loss to the Jays. "I elevated a few too many pitches. I threw a lot of poor pitches and I threw a lot of good pitches."

Facing a lineup with seven of the Blue Jays' nine projected regulars, Moyer needed 31 pitches to get through the first inning, which was the same amount he threw in three scoreless innings against a lot less accomplished Toronto hitters in a B game five days earlier. Moyer had also put together three scoreless innings in his spring-training debut against a Toronto B squad.

At the very least, the veteran lefthander's poor outing added fuel to the discussion about whether he should be the fifth starter ahead of righthander Kyle Kendrick, who has drawn rave reviews from pitching coach Rich Dubee by allowing just four hits in nine scoreless Grapefruit League innings.

"That's their choice," Moyer said when asked about the competition for the final spot in the Phillies' rotation. "It's all about contributing."

Moyer said he was pleased to see some major-league bats in the Blue Jays' lineup even if the result wasn't what he was looking for.

"It helps, but to me it doesn't matter who you're facing," he said. "The difference with big-league hitters . . . they're smart and I had faced a fair amount of those guys before. I don't know what they're working on, but they know what they're trying to do. Whether it's sitting on pitches or sitting on locations or just trying to see the ball and hit the ball."

The Blue Jays, especially in the bottom of the first inning, saw the ball and hit the ball - hard.

Jose Bautista singled, Aaron Hill doubled, Adam Lind singled and Vernon Wells doubled to start the bottom of the first. After registering consecutive strikeouts with sharp change-ups, Moyer tried to get a 1-2 change-up past Chris Lubanski, but the Blue Jays outfielder slammed the pitch off the right-field wall for a two-run double. Lubanski is a former Kennedy-Kenrick star and was No. 1 pick of the Royals and fifth overall in 2003.

Moyer pitched a scoreless second, then surrendered another run in the third on an RBI double by catcher John Buck.

After throwing 63 pitches - 41 for strikes - in his three innings, Moyer said he struggled "getting the ball in front of me and throwing on a downward plane."

"I'll never be a guy that will throw an excuse out there," Moyer said. "I had the ball and I threw the pitches, so it's my responsibility to throw well. I do know it's not going to go well every time, but I know it's not going to be poor every time. This part of the year is all about getting your feet underneath you, and I feel like I can take as much from this game as I can the previous two games."

Moyer is scheduled to pitch again Saturday when the Phillies play the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland. He will follow staff ace Roy Halladay into that game.