Moyer, 45, leads Phils past D-backs' Scherzer, 23

PHOENIX (AP) -- Arizona's Max Scherzer threw 98 mph fastballs in his first career start.

Jamie Moyer, making in his 558th start, countered with an assortment pitches that topped out in the low 80s.

Guile prevailed as Moyer went seven strong innings to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to an 11-4 rout of the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night in a matchup of division leaders. He also doubled in a run.

"That's amazing sometimes how that 98 [mph] gets hit and that 78 wins," Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said. "I think the law of gravity grabs it sometimes."

Moyer chuckled when asked if he remembered his first start -- a victory for the Chicago Cubs over Philadelphia's Steve Carlton on June 16, 1986.

"It was against my idol, Steve Carlton, so it was pretty exciting," Moyer said.

And did Moyer hit 98 on the radar gun that day?

"Back then, I don't think they had radar guns," he said.

The 45-year-old Moyer is the oldest player in the majors. The 23-year-old Scherzer was born on July 27, 1984 -- less than two years before Moyer made his major league debut.

Scherzer (0-1) talked as if he had received a pitching tutorial from Moyer.

"He rope-a-dopes you to death," Scherzer said. "I know firsthand, he throws a 74 mile-an-hour change, then backs it up with a 71 mile-an-hour change. He's cutting it to both sides of the plate at 81 or 82, and his fastball's about the same velocity, but he knows how to pitch. Been doing it a while."

Moyer kept the Diamondbacks off-balance all night, retiring 10 straight between the second and fifth innings. In the fourth, he struck out Justin Upton and Mark Reynolds looking on 81 mph fastballs, and they shook their heads as they walked back to the dugout.

In his longest outing this season, Moyer (2-2) allowed two runs and six hits, struck out five and walked none. Moyer, a career .141 hitter, singled and doubled for the fifth multi-hit game in his career.

"I thought he was going to go for the cycle there for a while," Manuel said.

Moyer won for the first time since April 8, a span of six starts. He said he has plenty to work on before his next start.

"It's still a work in progress," Moyer said. "I feel like I'm taking some small steps. But the consistency that I would like is just not quite where I want it."

Moyer had plenty of support on a night the Phillies managed a season-high 17 hits. Eric Bruntlett had a three-run triple and Geoff Jenkins and Carlos Ruiz both had three hits.

Scherzer, Arizona's first-round pick in the 2006 draft, made an impressive relief debut on April 29. He retired all 13 Houston Astros he faced, seven by strikeout.

His first start was a different story.

"I didn't get ahead of the hitters as well as I did last time, and that's just the difference," Scherzer said.

Scherzer gave up a double on the second pitch to leadoff man Shane Victorino and hit Bruntlett with his third pitch.

Ryan Howard's sacrifice fly gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead.

The Diamondbacks tied it at 1-1 in the second on Stephen Drew's two-out triple.

Philadelphia came up with four runs in the third, with Moyer doubling down the left field line to cap the scoring.

Arizona manager Bob Melvin said Scherzer "was behind and wasn't throwing his secondary pitches for strikes. Then you get pretty predictable, and that's a good hitting team over there, and that's what it came down to."

Melvin lifted Scherzer after 92 pitches over four innings. Scherzer allowed five runs, two earned, and seven hits. He walked two and struck out five.

Bruntlett's bases-clearing triple off Edgar Gonzalez made it 8-1 in the seventh.

Chris Snyder hit a solo homer off Moyer in the seventh.

Game notes
The Phillies didn't need closer Brad Lidge, who was unavailable Monday night after pitching in four straight games. Lidge has not allowed an earned run in his last 16 appearances dating to his final game last year. ... Scherzer took LHP Doug Davis' turn in the rotation. Davis, who had surgery for thyroid cancer on April 10, threw 65 pitches in a simulated game on Monday and is set to start in Triple-A Tucson this weekend.