But he doesn't mind protecting a close lead, either.
"Pitching in a tight game is usually more fun," he said. "It's more of a challenge."
He met the challenge Tuesday night.
Moore pitched eight solid innings to lead the Lancaster JetHawks to a 4-2 victory over a paid attendance of 3,602 at The Hangar.
Moore (2-1) struck out five and scattered five hits in what JetHawks manager Dave Brundage called Moore's "most consistent" start.
"That was a nice indication of the Trey Moore of last year," Brundage said, referring to Moore's 14-6 record at Riverside last season. "I thought he had command of three pitches tonight. He did a nice job."
Although the game wasn't a spectacular offensive performance, the JetHawks put together three-straight hits and scored twice in the fourth to take a 3-2 lead.
Carlos Villalobos walked with one out against Bakersfield starter Igor Oropeza (0-5), and Doug Carroll singled.
Scot Sealy singled to center to score Villalobos, and James Clifford doubled down the right-field line to score Carroll with the go-ahead run.
Thanks to Jason Cook's leadoff home run to left field, the Jethawks took a 1-0 lead in the first.
Cook belted a 3-1 pitch from Oropeza over the left-field fence for his fourth homer.
The Blaze came back with two runs in the third.
Moore struck out Andreaus Lewis to begin the inning, but Alex Cabrera and Craig Daedelow hit back-to-back doubles. Cabrera scored on Daedelow's drive that bounced over the center field fence to tie the game at one.
JetHawks left fielder Scott Smith then saved a run when he threw out Daedelow at the plate on Kyle Towner's single.
Towner moved to second on the throw and stole third base with two outs. Sealy's throw went into left field and Towner scored an unearned run to make it 2-1 Blaze.
After the JetHawks retook the lead in the fourth, Moore retired 11 of the next 12 Bakersfield batters.
"It feels better to know that the game is in your hands," Moore said. "Every pitch matters. I think I'm getting it back."
The closest he came to trouble was in the sixth.
The speedy Towner (25 stolen bases) singled to lead off the inning and Moore's attempts to shorten Towner's lead backfired when his pick-off attempt got by first baseman Clifford and rolled into foul territory behind first base.
Towner went to second, but Moore got the next two hitters out on fly balls and struck out the third to end the inning.
Towner, an outfielder on loan to Bakersfield from the Seattle organization, also reached on an infield single with two outs in the eighth, but he was thrown out by Sealy attempting to steal second.
Villalobos gave Moore and the JetHawks an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth with a solo homer on Oropeza's 106th pitch of the game.
It was Villalobos' second homer of the season, his first coming in the home opener in mid-April.
Clint Gould, normally a set-up man, pitched a scoreless ninth to get his first save of the season.
"I've gotten into games where we were a run ahead," Gould said, "but it was usually in the sixth or seventh. It's a different mentality knowing it was the ninth."