Quick Stains: April 30th

Jamie Moyer was brilliant last night in his win over the Florida Marlins, taking a no-hit bid into the seventh inning and cracking his first double since the 80s. Everyone knows Moyer was great, but the other big star of said evening was:

Jayson Werth - A huge basket catch to stop Miguel Cabrera from getting a double and preventing a Florida run from scoring. Also, Werth gave a solid 2-out RBI knock that brought 2 across the plate and made the game 3-0, certainly more comfortable for Moyer than a 1-0 lead. Well done, Jayson Werth.

A couple quick notes:

1. Manuel doesn't think Myers is ready to close, despite Gordon's three blown saves in seven chances.

2. Get over it, Scott Linebrink is probably off the table. After watching Rowand's hot bat (the sour point of yesterday's game was the end of his hitting streak) and solid D, I remembered why trading an every day player with a good chance to bat .300 and be a 20/20 player and good fielder for a guy who's going to notch only 70 innings just isn't a wise move.

3. As it has been touted over at A Citizen's Blog, the Mets are getting some incredible fielding, and it has no right to go on. The biggest beneficiaries seem to be John Maine, Tom Glavine, and Orlando Hernandez. The differential between Hernandez's FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) and ERA is a solid 2.37, with Glavine at a 2.17 difference and Maine a 2.23 (although Maine's FIP is still pretty good). I'm hoping to watch the Mets plummet down ESPN's power rankings.

4. Over at Balls Sticks & Stuff, Tom takes a look at why Howard's off to such a terrible start. It's getting pretty horrendous to watch Howard pull everything right into the shift the infield plays him on.

5. The Phillies have a tough schedule in their 9 game road trip. First off, Atlanta is, in my opinion, the best team in the NL East, and we're then up against San Fran and Arizona, and both teams (particularly the Giants) are on a serious hot streak. Hopefully we can carry some of the momentum of the past ten or so games into this foray, as it would be a damn shame to come so close to the .500 mark only to get pounded back into the celler of the NL East.

6. In case you were unaware, Rollins still leads the NL with 9 home runs. And yes, he is a hero.

Tonight, Lieber goes up against Atlanta's staff ace Tim Hudson. We were swept by the Braves in several very disappointing games to start the season, so now's the time to strike back.