Lefty Moyer pitches Mariners to a shutout

SEATTLE -- Jamie Moyer is making a strong case for the Seattle Mariners to re-sign him.

The 39-year-old left-hander pitched his first shutout since 1998 and his second complete game of the season, leading the Mariners past the St. Louis Cardinals 10-0 on Monday night.

Moyer (6-2), in the final year of his contract, won his third decision in a row. He gave up five hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out five.

He went eight shutout innings in a win over Oakland in his last start, giving him a scoreless streak of 17 innings that has lowered his ERA to 3.52. In his last five starts, Moyer has a 1.13 ERA and has walked only three batters, one intentionally, in 39 2-3 innings.

On Monday night, he threw a season-high 123 pitches, 80 for strikes. He had a 10-0 lead after seven innings. Still, manager Lou Piniella left him in the game.

"He's going to get an extra day his next time out," Piniella said. "He was throwing the ball so well and he wanted to finish it. It was the right thing to do."

After being limited to five runs and hitting .215 in their weekend series against the Chicago Cubs, when they lost two of three, the Mariners had 14 hits in the opener of their first series against the Cardinals.

Ichiro Suzuki tripled, doubled and singled, Charles Gipson hit a two-run triple and Mike Cameron doubled twice for Seattle.

Moyer began his major league career with the Chicago Cubs in 1986 and pitched for the Cardinals in 1991, when he was 0-5.

He was 20-6 last season. After the All-Star game in Seattle, he went 11-2 with a 2.22 ERA. He went 3-0 in the postseason, including Seattle's lone victory in the AL championship series against the New York Yankees.

"To me, it's the consistency," he said. "Outing after outing after outing. You'd like to think that every outing you're going to be sharp. You'd like to feel that way and think that way, but it doesn't always work out that way."

J.D. Drew dropped a bunt down the third-base line for the Cardinals' first hit in the fourth that drew boos from the crowd of 45,699 at Safeco Field.

"You know what he's got and you know what he's going to do," Drew said. "It's just trying to get a quality pitch to hit. He hit his spots and he got the outs when he needed to."

Cardinals starter Bud Smith (0-4) made his second start since coming off the disabled list because of a strained left shoulder. He went five innings and gave up four runs -- three earned -- on eight hits.