Game Recap:
Cole Hamels had his scoreless innings streak snapped, but struck out 13 Marlins in six and two thirds innings to pick up his fourth straight win and help move the Phillies two games up over the Braves for first place in the National League East.
What went right?
Shane Victorino went 2-4 and scored both runs for the Phils.
Placido Polanco was 1-4 with an RBI.
Jayson Werth didn't have a hit, but he did drive home Victorino with an RBI ground out.
Cole Hamels pitched very well once again, allowing just one run on five hits in those six and two thirds innings. In addition to his 13 strikeouts, he walked just two batters.
Brad Lidge worked a perfect ninth inning to pick up his 22nd save in his first appearance in over a week.
What went wrong?
Carlos Ruiz was 0-3.
Raul Ibanez went 0-3 with a walk.
The Phillies left 12 men on base.
Game Analysis:
For a while, this looked like another one of those Cole Hamels starts where he pitched very well, but ended up with a loss or a no decision. After picking up a run in the first inning, the Phils proceeded to leave five men on base in the next three innings before a Jayson Werth ground out with the bases loaded scored the game winning run. Hamels and the bullpen did the rest, and the Phillies finished the night two games up over the Atlanta Braves with just 16 games to play.
I've run out of good things to say about Cole Hamels this season. After his just bad showing last year and rough starts this season, Hamels has shown the kind of composure on the mound that you want an ace to have. Last night, he threw a career high 127 pitches, but hung in there for each and every one of them, striking out five batters in a row in the sixth and seventh innings to finish the game with 13 strikeouts in all. Cole had to battle the patience of the Marlins, as well as some umpiring issues, but he stayed the course and picked up his fourth straight win.
It's a nice change from how things had been going for Cole earlier this season. Had the Phillies been able to push just a few runs across for him in some of his other starts, he might have 15 or 16 wins and be in the talk for the Cy Young Award. Now, he still might get some talk for that, but the focus is going to be on Roy Halladay, not Hamels. Regardless, Cole has proven that he can still be that big game pitcher that everyone remembers from 2008. In his last four starts, Hamels has given up a grand total of one earned run, six walks and 31 strikeouts. That's not just good, that's top of the rotation, better than most pitchers in the National League good. Coming into the season, one of the biggest questions was how would Cole pitch this year. Well, that question has been answered, and in a big, big way.
There's not much to be said for the offense last night, save for the fact that it didn't look that good. At least this time out they were able to score two runs off of Adalberto Mendez, and they worked him over a bit more last night, too. The Phils were able to put men on base with walks and a few hits, but they just couldn't get them home. It's been the same story for a while now, but at least last night, they got the win. That's all that they could ask for this time out. The offense doesn't have to score 11 runs every time out, but it would be nice if they could find some sort of happy medium.
The Phillies go for the sweep tonight in their last game of the season against the Marlins. Roy Halladay (18-10, 2.44 ERA) tries to become the first Phillies pitcher since John Denny back in 1983 to win 19 games, while the Marlins will have Jorge Sosa (2-2, 5.82 ERA) starting for them.
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