Phillies’ veteran pitcher Jamie Moyer continued his streak of starts of not allowing more than three runs in a game on Thursday, a streak that dates back to June 6 of this year. That is a total of 14 games, five of which he has allowed one or less runs.

To further put in perspective how impressive that is, lets compare Moyer’s numbers to that of some of the top pitchers in the major leagues this season. The winningest pitcher in the majors so far this year is Arizona’s Brandon Webb with 19 victories. Since June 6, Webb has pitched 15 games, three of which he gave up more than three runs. In one game he gave up seven runs, five in another.

Webb’s teammate Dan Haren has three such games, including outings of six runs and five runs. Chicago Cub pitcher Rich Harden has only one game in 13 in which he has allowed more than three runs.

Mets’ ace Johan Santana (widely considered the best pitcher in the major leagues coming into this season) has had two games in which he’s allowed more than three runs out of 14 during that span. Perhaps the hottest pitcher in the majors right now is the Brewers’ CC Sabathia. In 14 games he has only one game in which he has allowed more than three runs.

American League Cy-Young frontrunner Cliff Lee of the Cleveland Indians has two such games, including one outing in which he allowed six runs. Fellow American League starter Roy Halladay of the Toronto Blue Jays has three outings of three runs or more in 14.

Rising NL star Tim Lincecum from the Giants has allowed three of more runs in four different outings since June 6.

During the span of almost three months, Webb has nine wins, Haren has eight, Harden has five, Santana has four, Sabathia has 11, Lee has nine, Halladay has nine and Lincecum has six.

Harden spent six of his 13 games with the lowly Oakland Athletics, Lincecum with their Bay Area rival and fellow bad team the Giants, and Santana’s Mets have one of the worst bullpens in the major leagues, blowing several of his wins.

Moyer, on the other hand, plays on a team that led the majors in offense last year and has the best bullpen in the league this season, and yet he only had five wins despite not allowing more than three runs during that entire span.

What is wrong with this picture? Moyer has allowed more than three runs in only four games this entire season. That is 21 games this season that he has held opponents below four runs, including three shutouts. The reason for Moyer’s 11-7 record? The Phillies have averaged a total of three runs during those 14 games.

If the Phillies raised that average to just four runs a game then Moyer would have eight wins in those 14 games.

I don’t know if winning more of those games would have put Moyer into serious consideration for the Cy-Young award, as he would be facing stiff competition in Webb, Sabathia and Haren. But he has been the most consistent pitcher in the majors over the past two and a half months.

His ERA over that span is 2.72, while Webb’s ERA is 2.96, Sabathia’s is 1.68, and Haren’s is 2.90. Moyer has a better ERA than two of the top three pitchers in the National League.

That’s a pretty compelling case as far as I’m concerned.