June 13 -- CATCHING MARLIN

SOMEWHERE BETWEEN MIAMI AND ST. LOUIS -- Good morning, all. Happy Friday the 13th. At the moment, I find myself in Atlanta. What am I doing here, you ask? Well, it's the connection point for my flight to St. Louis, which should be boarding in a few minutes.

While I wait, let's talk about Jamie Moyer's performance last night.

Moyer lasted eight innings for the first time since April 19, 2007, absolutely flummoxing the Marlins at Dolphin Stadium. He took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, allowed only two singles and a walk and threw 102 pitches, most of them exactly where he and catcher Carlos Ruiz wanted them.

What? You expected something less?

Moyer is the Marlins' master. In nine career starts against them, he's 9-0 with a 3.03 ERA. In four career starts at Dolphin Stadium, he's 4-0 with a 1.30 ERA. He's so tough on Dan Uggla (2-for-21) that Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez held Uggla out of the lineup last night even though he belted a walk-off grand slam Wednesday night.

If Moyer knows why he has the Marlins so baffled, he isn't saying. But if the Fish can stay with the Phillies near the top of the NL East, Charlie Manuel will figure out a way to make sure Moyer pitches against them in every remaining series between the clubs. Actually, Manuel may do better than that.

"We'll see if we can't get that 45-year-old to throw two out of three," Manuel said.

He was joking. We think.

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Pat Gillick was the Orioles' GM in 1997 when Baltimore took Jayson Werth in the first round, and during spring training, Gillick told me Werth may still be a catcher if their paths hadn't diverged after the '98 season. But Gillick left Baltimore and Werth was dealt to Toronto, where he was converted into an outfielder.

Werth still carries catcher's gear, though, and last night, he served as the Phillies' backup catcher with Chris Coste back in Philly with his wife Marcia and their newborn daughter Camryn. Coste is due back tonight, and nobody is more thankful than Werth.

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OK, my AirTran flight is about to board, so we'll talk later from Busch Stadium.