SEATTLE -- For Andrew Moore, the learning curve is going to come with, well, learning when to throw his curve and other off-speed offerings. And that process continued Saturday for the Mariners rookie right-hander, who threw six innings of three-run ball for his third consecutive quality start to open his career.
This one resulted in a no-decision in a game the Mariners ultimately lost, 4-3, when the A's tallied the winning run in the ninth off closer Edwin Diaz. But Moore, Seattle's No. 4-ranked prospect per MLBPipeline.com, again looked solid as he soaked up more lessons at the Major League level.
"It's just reading the hitters and what they're looking at," said Moore, who is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA. "My last start, the Royals were really aggressive with first-pitch fastballs, so I kind of had to switch to off-speed. Where today was the opposite and they were really aggressive on first-pitch off-speed, so I started going to fastballs toward the end. It's reading what they're giving to you and go based off that."
It's the ability to adjust and use all his weapons that has impressed manager Scott Servais in the early going with Moore, who became the 11th pitcher in club history to open his career with three straight quality starts.
"He's pretty good the way he is," Servais said. "But he'll learn to understand the sequencing of his pitches. Going back and forth for him is so important, the fastball with the good changeup. He's a smart kid and understands it.
"I think the more he and [catcher Mike] Zunino work together, they'll be fine. There'll be some adjustments along the way, but I like what I've seen so far. He did his job and kept us in the ball game tonight."
Moore said he didn't feel quite as sharp in his third outing as he left some curveballs up, including one that All-Star Yonder Alonso ripped for a home run. He also gave up a homer to shortstop Marcus Semien on a ball that just cleared the left-field fence over a leaping Ben Gamel, projected at 339 feet by Statcast™.
But while there is work to be done, the youngster has shown the poise and ability to compete at the Major League level and could play a big role for the Mariners in the second half with Hisashi Iwakuma's uncertain status while dealing with a shoulder issue.
"It's been a great experience so far," said Moore. "A lot of the credit is due to [Zunino and backup catcher Carlos Ruiz and pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr.] They've helped me out a ton. Obviously, there's still a lot of work to go, especially on the off-speed stuff.
"But they've done a great job communicating what they're seeing and guiding me through my starts. So far it's been great and just trying to improve every time out. I've been picking [James] Paxton's brain a lot and other guys, trying to learn as much as I can while I'm up here."