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COL@SEA: Moyer fans five over five innings

Jamie Moyer insists he isn't making his historic comeback to win just one game.

But should he get win No. 268 of his career -- and the veteran lefty has the chance to do so when he gets ball for the Rockies against Houston on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. ET -- Moyer would become the oldest pitcher in baseball history to record a victory.

At 49 and coming off Tommy John surgery, Moyer's odds of making the Rockies seemed slim when he signed with the club in January. But Moyer, whose fastball hits 80 on a good night, continued to defy conventional wisdom by posting a 2.50 ERA in 18 spring innings to make the team.

On Saturday, he'll start the club's second game of the season, opposed by Astros righty Lucas Harrell, who was just 13 months old when Moyer made his Major League debut.

"It's awesome," Harrell said. "I remember playing with Jamie Moyer on 'Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball' on Super Nintendo when he was with Seattle, so to pitch against him is an honor. It's something I'll never forget."

Should the Astros go with the same starting lineup they went with during Friday's 5-3 loss to the Rockies, they would have just three starting position players who were alive when Moyer made his first big league start. Only Carlos Lee, Brian Bogusevic and Chris Johnson had been born when Moyer took the mound for the Cubs on June 16, 1986, against Philadelphia.

Moyer, whose big league career also began before the Rockies were a franchise, last pitched on July 20, 2010 with the Phillies. He is well aware of the age records he could break this season, but chooses to ignore them.

"I intend to win more than one game," Moyer kidded earlier this spring when asked about becoming the oldest pitcher to get a victory. Jack Quinn holds the record at 49 years, 74 days in a win with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1932.

As for the 26-year-old Harrell, who has made just five starts in his career, he called manager Brad Mills' decision to give him the ball in Game No. 2 "an honor."

"It shows they have trust in me, and I hope I go out there and don't let them down," Harrell said. "This is a great organization and I just feel lucky to be a part of it ... There's a lot of talent here, and we're going to surprise a lot of people by the end of the season."

Rockies: Minute Maid Park is Helton's Haven

• Todd Helton has racked up a lot of hits in a lot of ballparks, but few have been friendlier to him that Houston's Minute Maid Park.

In 34 games at the current home of the Astros, Helton is hitting .369 with eight homers and 23 RBIs.

• Last season, Troy Tulowitzki became just the second National League shortstop to hit 30 homers and drive in 100 runs, joining Chicago's Ernie Banks, who did so five times. Tulowitzki picked up right where he left off on Friday with a homer and two RBIs against Houston.

• Helton's third-inning double on Friday extended his Opening Day hitting streak to 13 games. He has made 15 straight Opening Day starts for the same team, the longest active streak in baseball.

Astros: Lowrie to DL

• The Astros had hoped they'd have Jed Lowrie available for the start of the season, but on Friday afternoon they placed their shortstop on the DL with a sprained right thumb.

Marwin Gonzalez, who the Astros acquired in the Rule 5 Draft in December, got the start at shortstop in Lowrie's place on Friday and went 0-for-3.

• Houston's six-game homestand to start the season will be followed by a stretch where they'll be on the road for 13 of 16. The Astros need to capitalize at home, as they went just 25-56 away from Minute Maid Park last season.

Worth noting
• While managing the Cubs' Triple-A affiliate in Iowa, Mills informed Jamie Moyer he was cutting him. That was 20 years ago.

"He told me he'd be back, and boy is he back," Mills said.

• The Rockies' 5-2 mark against Houston last season marked the first time they won a season series against the Astros since going 4-2 against them in 2006.

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