NewsMarlins stifled in Taylor's rocky debut
Rookie struggles with control as Florida drops sixth straight
By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com
04/26/09 5:20 PM ET
MIAMI -- Matching up Jamie Moyer with a Moyer-like starter of their own still wasn't enough to stop the Marlins' misery.Looking for a lift, the Marlins added to their rotation 24-year-old left-hander Graham Taylor, a soft-thrower who was promoted from Double-A Jacksonville.
Taylor got off to a slow start, and the Marlins simply never got going on Sunday as they were soundly defeated, 13-2, by the Phillies in front of 17,177 at Dolphin Stadium.
Swept in the three-game series, the Marlins now have dropped six straight, the most by the franchise since losing eight in a row from Aug. 15-22, 2007.
About the most entertainment Marlins fans had in the lopsided affair was watching right fielder Cody Ross, who had three singles on the day, pitch a scoreless ninth inning to preserve the bullpen.
"There were a lot of teams that were going to draft me as a pitcher," said Ross, a left-handed thrower who was bringing the heat at 84 mph.
The primary left-handed pitcher of the day was Moyer.
Again, the veteran got the best of the youthful Marlins. The 46-year-old worked six innings, allowing one run on seven hits with six strikeouts. In his career, Moyer is 12-1 with a 2.84 ERA against Florida, including 7-0 at Dolphin Stadium.
"I thought we had a pretty good approach on him," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said of facing Moyer. "He wiggles out of it like he always does. ... You don't pitch 25 years in the big leagues without knowing how to wiggle out of those types of situations."
The Marlins countered the Phillies veteran with a left-hander who was known in the Minor Leagues for being crafty. Taylor, a 10th-round pick in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft, was promoted from Jacksonville on Saturday to replace Andrew Miller (right oblique strain) in the rotation. He caught word that he would make the start on Friday, and admittedly he was a bit eager.
The book on Taylor is that he throws strikes and has an understanding of how to pitch. Like Moyer, he doesn't throw particularly hard. His fastball is clocked around 85-86 mph.
Taylor, however, found himself in a constant battle in 3 2/3 innings against the defending World Series champions. The lefty walked six, hit a batter and gave up four hits along with the four runs. His day was over in the fourth inning after 98 pitches, with 49 for strikes.
"It took me an inning or so to really find my groove and pitch the way I've pitched in the past," Taylor said. "It's frustrating. Normally, I don't walk a whole lot of guys. Not being able to find the zone is really frustrating."
Next up for Taylor won't be any easier. After facing the 2008 World Series champs, he is slated to start on Friday against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
"He didn't throw strikes, obviously," Gonzalez said. "That could have been the first time out, facing the Phillies. We don't know his emotions. I'm sure it's going to be overwhelming. But when he did throw the ball over the plate, they didn't get good cuts at it."
The Marlins scratched out their only run off Moyer in the fifth inning on Hanley Ramirez's two-out RBI single, which ran his hitting streak to eight games. The single that scored Ross, who also singled, from second came one pitch after the bat flung out of Ramirez's hand and into the stands on a 73-mph Moyer offering.
Before Ramirez's run-scoring single, all seven runs the Marlins had produced in the series came via the home run. Dan Uggla had a three-run homer on Friday. On Saturday, Jorge Cantu delivered a three-run home run, and Uggla added a solo shot.
In the first inning, the Phillies capitalized on Taylor's slow start.
Laboring to locate the plate, Taylor issued back-to-back walks to Shane Victorino and Eric Bruntlett to open the game. Both runners scored. Ryan Howard slapped an opposite-field RBI single, and Raul Ibanez lifted a sacrifice fly.
Of the 38 pitches Taylor threw in the first inning, 22 were for balls, and he walked four.
Overall, it was a lackluster performance for Florida after the first two games were won by Philadelphia on ninth-inning rallies.
In the fourth inning, the Phillies went up by four runs. Chase Utley had a two-run single after a wind-aided two-out double by Eric Bruntlett kept the inning alive. Moyer, who singled with one out to open the fourth, went to third on Bruntlett's fly ball to short left field. Battling the wind, left fielder Jeremy Hermida charged as the ball kept drifting away from him. The ball hit Hermida's glove and fell out, as Bruntlett coasted into second.
Defensively, Moyer was helped out by some nice catches from Ibanez in left field. In the first inning, he robbed Ramirez of extra bases with a diving backhanded catch. With two on in the fifth inning, and Florida trailing by three at the time, Ibanez went to the gap in left-center to run down Jorge Cantu's long fly ball.
The way Moyer conducted himself is something Taylor paid close attention to.
"Jamie Moyer is the type of guy I look up to," Taylor said. "I'm kind of a similar pitcher. He probably was the same velocity when he was about my age. As the years went on, he probably lost a little bit, but he learned how to pitch. Hopefully, that's something I can develop into.
"He's a strike-thrower, who keeps the ball down with movement. It was nice to go head-to-head against him and see how he pitched. Hopefully, I'll learn from that."
Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
