Aging southpaw Jamie Moyer gets a second chance at a first win of the 2012 season today when his latest team, the Colorado Rockies, close out a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants.
The native of Sellersville, Pa., who'll turn 50 in November, did not pitch in the majors last season after going 9-9 with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2010 and winning 12 games for them a season earlier.
Moyer was a sixth-round pick of the Chicago Cubs in 1984 and has appeared in 687 major-league games with eight teams, including the Cubs, Texas, St. Louis, Baltimore, Seattle, Boston, the Phillies and Rockies.
He made his Colorado debut and his first start of this year on April 7 in Houston and dropped a 7-3 decision after allowing four runs on five hits in five innings.
He's 4-7 in 12 lifetime starts against the Giants with a respectable 3.52 earned run average and 41 strikeouts in 79 1/3 innings.
San Francisco counters with young left-hander Madison Bumgarner, who was born five years after Moyer was drafted and has made 631 fewer appearances than his mound opponent.
Bumgarner debuted with the Giants in 2009, two years after they selected him 10th overall in the 2007 draft.
He made four appearances that season, won seven times in 18 starts in 2010 and was a 13-game winner in 33 starts in 2011 while posting a 3.21 ERA and striking out 191 batters in 204 2/3 innings.
The 22-year-old North Carolina native, who's 2-3 in seven career meetings with the Rockies, opened his 2012 season with a 5-4 loss in Arizona on April 7 after giving up seven hits and four runs in four innings.
In Wednesday's second game, Carlos Gonzalez tripled twice, drove in four runs and scored four times as Colorado dominated the Giants, 17-8.
Troy Tulowitzki, Michael Cuddyer, Ramon Hernandez and Chris Nelson each drove in two runs for the Rockies, who snapped a three-game skid. Matt Reynolds (1-0) picked up the win for pitching 1 2/3 innings.
Nate Schierholtz homered twice and drove in three runs while Brandon Crawford also homered for the Giants, whose win on Monday was their first of the season. Guillermo Mota (0-1) was charged with five runs - four earned - in the fourth inning to take the loss.
Neither starter factored in the decision as Jeremy Guthrie was touched for six runs on nine hits in just 3 1/3 frames for Colorado while Tim Lincecum was banged around for six runs in just 2 1/3 innings for San Francisco.
The Giants won seven of their last eight games against the Rockies last season and 13 of 18 overall. They won six of nine in Colorado.
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