Phils Send Reyes to 11th Straight Loss    

[June 23, 2007]  ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Anthony Reyes lost his 11th straight decision, failing to make it out of the fifth inning of the Philadelphia Phillies' 6-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.

Jamie Moyer (7-5) threw six scoreless innings and Chase Utley had three hits and an RBI for the Phillies, who had allowed 33 runs while losing three of their previous four games. Moyer's one-out single in the third inning was the first of six consecutive hits in a five-run outburst that broke up a scoreless game.

Reyes (0-9) is 0-11 since last September, not including a dominating performance against the Detroit Tigers in the World Series opener that helped propel St. Louis to its first title in 24 seasons. He allowed five runs and nine hits in 4 1-3 innings Friday, hiking his ERA 30 points to 6.64.

Edgar Gonzalez of Arizona in 2004 was the last pitcher to lose his first nine straight decisions in a season. Fausto Carmona of Cleveland was the last pitcher to drop 11 in a row, from April 20, 2006, to April 17, 2007.

The 25-year-old Reyes is the first Cardinal to start 0-9 since Danny Jackson in 1995.

Reyes' line could have been a lot worse considering he left with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth. Troy Cate bailed him out, striking out Greg Dobbs and getting Abraham Nunez on a groundout.

Reyes has struggled most at the start of games, allowing 24 of 40 runs before Friday in the first two innings. He sailed through the first two innings against the Phillies, allowing only a two-out single by Utley in the first, before caving in the third.

Shane Victorino and Utley had RBI singles then Ryan Howard hit an RBI double off the base of the wall in right-center before Dobbs' sacrifice fly ended the string of hits. Right fielder Juan Encarnacion helped the inning along earlier when he overran the ball on Utley's single, allowing Victorino to score from first.

Reyes, who has a rising fastball that the Cardinals want him to complement with a better assortment of pitches, recorded only two outs on ground balls.

The Cardinals left more than one on base four times against the 44-year-old Moyer, who was considered washed-up by the franchise way back in 1991 when he was 0-5 with a 5.74 ERA in eight starts before being released. Moyer scattered seven hits and two walks while striking out six and befuddling the Cardinals with off-speed pitches. He has allowed two runs in 13 innings his last two starts.

This was Moyer's 10th appearance against the Cardinals, but only the third since 1988.

Notes:@ IF Scott Spiezio is batting .355 with two homers during an 11-game hitting streak, but was benched Friday, probably because he's 5-for-36 for his career against Moyer. ... Phillies 3B coach Steve Smith was back after serving a three-game suspension for charging on the field to protest a checked-swing call on Sunday against the Tigers. ... Phillies pitchers lead the NL with 25 hits, one more than the Mets. ... Cardinals OF So Taguchi singled in the fifth and is batting .412 (21-for-51) during a 14-game hitting streak that is two games longer than his previous best in 2005.

[Associated Press]