Moyer eyes first win of year against San Diego

A touch of illness has plagued the Rockies as of late. Veteran pitcher Jamie Moyer probably knows some long-forgotten remedies that could help.

A victory, though, would be the best medicine and Moyer looks to do just that and make a little bit of history in the process as Colorado plays the second of three straight against the San Diego Padres.

The 49-year-old Moyer, out all of last season due to Tommy John surgery, has lost his first two starts of the season, preventing him from becoming the oldest player in major league history to record a victory. The current mark is held by Jack Quinn, who won his last game on Sept. 13, 1932 for the Dodgers at the age of 49 years and 70 days.

Moyer, born Nov. 18, 1962, has allowed eight runs in 10 2/3 innings this season, though three have been unearned, including half of his four charged runs in Thursday's loss to the Giants. Moyer also allowed eight hits and struck out three in 5 2/3 innings.

"I threw way too many pitches early in the game, but I made good pitches when I needed to," the left-hander said.

Moyer tapped the fountain of youth the last time he faced the Padres on June 5, 2010, throwing a two-run, seven-hit complete game while with the Phillies. He is 4-2 in his last six starts versus the Padres.

He'll try to contain a Padres lineup that connected on a season-high 14 hits in last night's 7-1 series-opening victory. Nick Hundley and Chase Headley both had three hits, with Headley logging three RBI and Headley posting three doubles, an RBI and three runs scored. He is batting .370 over an eight-game hitting streak with two homers, five doubles and eight RBI.

Corey Luebke benefited from all of the offense and hurled seven solid innings of one-run ball. He allowed six hits and struck out four as the Padres snapped a four-game skid and beat the Rockies for a fifth straight game.

The Rockies remained without Carlos Gonzalez as the outfielder missed a third straight game with strep throat. He hopes to return to the starting lineup tonight.

Starter Jeremy Guthrie, meanwhile, also battled a sore throat in last night's game and was touched for six runs on nine hits and two walks over seven innings. Manager Jim Tracy was pleased with his pitcher's gutsy outing.

"He went out there and gave us seven innings," Tracy said. "He gave us an opportunity to re-solidify our bullpen a little bit. We were able to stay off of a number of guys and kind of get ourselves back in place."

Tyler Colvin went 2-for-4 and knocked in the only run for the Rockies, who have dropped two straight and are 3-4 on a nine-game homestand.

Anthony Bass hopes to keep Colorado under .500 on that residency as he starts tonight for the Padres.

The 24-year-old owns just four career starts, with two of those coming against the Rockies. He made his major league debut against them on June 13 of last season and got a win with five innings of one-run ball. He then beat them a second time on Sept. 21, allowing only two hits in five scoreless frames.

Bass has also faced the Rockies three times out of the bullpen and he made two relief appearances this season before filling in for an injured Dustin Moseley on Thursday versus the Diamondbacks. The right-hander did not factor into the decision of his first start of the year, giving up a run on three hits and two walks over 4 1/3 frames with a career-high five strikeouts over 88 pitches.

The Padres and Rockies split 18 meetings a season ago, with San Diego winning the last four.