Phillies Recap: Mets-1, Phillies-0

Game Recap:
R.A. Dickey pitched a one hit complete game, out-dueling Cole Hamels, who pitched a complete game as well, to give the Mets the win in the first game of this three game series.

What went right?

This won't take long.

Cole Hamels pitched excellent tonight, but got the loss due to lack of run support. He allowed a single run in eight innings on five hits. He walked two and struck out eight. Oh, he also had the only hit of the night for the Phillies.

What went wrong?

I'm not going to go through each and every player, but other than Cole Hamels, Wilson Valdez was the only Phillie to reach base, and he walked. The rest of the team, Valdez included, was 0-26.

Game Analysis:

Cole Hamels deserves better than this, he really does. Even with his 7-9 record now on the season, Hamels has an ERA of 3.33. That's good enough to be tied for 15th in the National League right now, and no pitcher above him on that list has a losing record like Hamels does. In his last two starts, he's been on the wrong end of 1-0 games at the hands of the Mets, but the Phillies haven't been giving him any run support for most of the year. Since the All Star Break, Hamels hasn't won a single game, but the most runs he's given up in one start is four, and the Phillies ended up winning that game in extra innings.

The problem when he pitches isn't with him. In fact, if Cole Hamels can keep pitching like this, then there's nothing to worry about with him down the stretch. What is a problem is the lack of runs that the Phillies are providing him. In his last seven starts, the Phillies have given him nine runs of support while he's been on the mound, and four of those runs came in a single game. There's no answer for why the Phillies don't hit with Hamels on the mound, but something has got to be done. Tonight was another great example of how far he's come as a pitcher this year. Twice, Hamels had runners on third base with less than two outs, and both times, he managed to get out of the inning without a run crossing the plate. The only time that he did give up a run was when Shane Victorino misread a ball off the bat of David Wright, and Raul Ibanez couldn't come down with the Carlos Beltran shot that followed.

You have to wonder if this lack of support is starting to get to Hamels. Cole has never been one to hide his emotions when things aren't going his way, and with the struggles that this offense has had of late, there has to be something brewing in the back of his mind. Everyone knows that Cole should have almost, if not as many, wins as Roy Halladay does, but with the Phillies giving him little or no run support, it's impossible to win games. When you can hold the New York Mets to one run in back to back starts, you're doing something right. The only problem is that the Phillies were shutout in both of those games, leaving Hamels with the loss and an empty feeling in his stomach.

Right now, the Phillies just have to figure out how to score runs in New York. The Phils have been shutout in their last four games in Citi Field, and something has to change during the rest of this series. It doesn't matter if it's just one run that scores, just something has to be done. This team knows they can play well against the Mets, but something is keeping them from scoring. A lot of it has to do with the New York pitching, since R.A. Dickey was great tonight, just as he was back in May against the Phillies, but some of it has to be coming from the Phils. They have to get over that hurdle and score some freaking runs.

Tomorrow night, Roy Halladay (14-8, 2.34 ERA) goes for his 15th win of the season. For the Mets, Pat Misch will be making his first start of the season.