Matt Moore has not been great by any definition this season, but his recent pitching performances were trending in the right direction. After three straight games logging at least six innings with no more than four runs allowed, Moore regressed slightly Wednesday, allowing four runs in just five innings of work.
It wasn’t a horrible performance from Moore, as he was solid for much of the game, with all four runs being scored in the second and third frames.
“Tonight there were three good innings and two crappy ones,” Moore said. “In my last three outings I feel like just in general just in that the vibes throughout the game seem more like I’ve been more in command of it. Mentally too since the [All-Star] break I feel like’s it’s been a little bit different of a story with attacking and being in the zone a little more frequently. I know we’ve only won one of the games that I’ve thrown since then but I think just heading into them and afterwards I’m feeling better about the work that’s being done. I think right now it’s just a matter of making steps. The first three after the break were good steps.”
With the game essentially coming down to a few poor pitches from Moore that led to a pair of extra base hits, Moore said that he felt the loss could be boiled down to those two moments.
“Right now I haven’t made my mind up,” said Moore. “Whether I’m more upset about that one [home run] to [Ryon] Healy or the two [walks] before [Matt] Chapman hit the ball to center because you’re not really giving yourself a chance right there, you’re putting them on for nothing. I’ve been playing plenty long enough to know lead-off walks or just walks in general…there’s just nothing good to come from them. It’s not like I’m walking Barry [Bonds] so he don’t hit a homer it’s just some uncontested pitches.”
Moore has dealt with issues stemming from his release point this season and he said some of his struggles on Wednesday could be attributed to those issues, but it isn’t quite as simple as that.
“Obviously in the second inning when I had those two walks the release point was something,” Moore said. “But there’s a lot of points throughout your delivery that get you to your release point so usually you work backwards from when you release the ball. Typically my problem is not staying on my backside long enough, trying to get down the hill a little too quick sometimes. It can mess with that [release point] for sure. I can’t get it all back right now. I think at times in the first half [of the season] that was the story, I was trying to get some of the mistakes erased with one hitter or one inning. So just realizing where I’m at for the season, it’s not going to go away overnight.”
Moore fell to 3-11 on the season, tying him for the fifth-most losses in the majors. He is also on pace for the worst ERA of his career with a 5.80 mark, which remains the worst in the league amongst qualified pitchers.
