Hamels in control -- again
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Hamels in control -- again
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
The story in today's Inquirer of Tuesday's 4-1 Phillies win centers around Raul Ibanez ending his hitless streak because, well, how many times will we see something like that again? (I have a feeling I know what the first comment on this entry will be.)
Charlie Manuel made the first drastic changes to his lineup for Game 28. He kept Ibanez in there and the left fielder rewarded him. Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino combined for the dynamic duo at the top of the lineup Manuel says his team sorely needs.
Oh, and Cole Hamels pitched a complete game, hit a triple and scored a run.
He was fantastic on the mound, locating all of his pitches.
(As for the triple, Hamels said he knew it wasn't out of the park when he hit it off the end of the bat. Manuel said he was trying to will it out of the park and predicted Hamels will hit a home run one of these days. Hamels said he'd like that home run to be in the second deck and not just over the fence, like Tuesday's ball appeared to be headed.)
In the five starts since his disastrous beginning against the Mets, Hamels has won four. The Phillies have won all five. His season, excluding start No. 1:
38 IP, 24 H, 6 ER, 8 BB, 37 K, 2 HR, 1.42 ERA
"I'm keeping the same mentality I had last year," Hamels said.
If you'll recall, that was a very good one. After the calendar turned from April to May, Hamels had a 2.68 ERA in 178 innings. His ERA in April was 5.28 in 30 2/3 innings.
He threw both his fastball and changeup with conviction Tuesday. As usual, most of the opposition's swings and misses came on the change (six of 26 times he threw it). An astonishing 23 of his 26 changes were for strikes.
He used his curveball just twice, causing one swing and a miss. He threw the cutter 16 times, 10 for strikes.
His command was on for all four pitches.
"Early on I was hitting my spots," Hamels said. "If I do that, I know I can go further."
He did that, and more.
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2.66 ERA is solid after that first start— shawnmac
Comment removed.- funny how people soon forget this guy was the MVP of the only Championship this city has seen in 25+ years. The fact that he was booed is despicable. He should be revered more than any other pitcher on that staff. Don't forget fat Joe as well, remember how he played down the stretch that year? I understand that this is a "what have you done for me lately" biz, but come on.— sore richard
- It's gonna take a Cy Young for this city to fully embrace Cole. He keeps pitching like this it'll happen this year
- I don't know if the city will ever embrace Cole. Seems to me he needs to be a thug (AI) or a dog killer (#7). I have, though.— palmyra21
- Cole will win a Cy Young and soon.— sla6yer
- And where did all those morons calling to trade him after ONE START go? Hm?
Cole's awesome, I really hope the Phillies are smart enough to hold onto him after this year.— cloudkitt - What a great guy to have for a # 4 pitcher.— Joe at the shore
- @ Cloudkitt. I agree Cole's amazing, and trading him would be a disaster, considering he's only 27 and all of the other starters on the rotation are 30 years or older.— paulNC
- I really like how he's grown with his mental approach to the game. The guy is a flat out winner. We need to keep him here as a Phillie. Great job again last night. What a pleasure to watch.— s
- BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Oh, nevermind...— Russ
- Shouldn't we have traded him away instead of Lee? Oh wait, wrong year.— Clt Philly Fan
- I just hope they can resign him longterm, and that he wants to stay.— Jack Burden
- HAMELS IS A BEAST! Time & time again...he comes through with solid outings...he is probably going to pitch something special later this year.— WhiteBear
- I look forward to the day he throws his curve 10-15 times a game and really keeps the hitters baffled, not to mention saving his arm a bit for late inning pitching.— FunCakes
