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Cole Hamels stellar, but Phillies blanked by Marlins, 2-0

The Phillies were blanked by the Marlins, 2-0, at Marlins Park on Tuesday. Cole Hamels suffered his eighth loss of the season.

Phillies starting pitcher Cole Hamels. (Steve Mitchell/USA Today Sports)
Phillies starting pitcher Cole Hamels. (Steve Mitchell/USA Today Sports)Read more

MIAMI - There hasn't been any single player on the Phillies roster who has been consistently excellent each time they've taken the field in 2014. This isn't breaking news, of course; the team's record and place in the standings are there for all eyes to see.

But Cole Hamels, easily the most valuable player on the team this season, has been close to excellent in each of the 29 times he's taken the mound. He'll eclipse the 200-inning plateau this Sunday, despite missing three weeks in April.

He'll finish the season with the lowest ERA of his career. He's currently fourth in the National League, trailing only Clayton Kershaw, Johnny Cueto and Adam Wainwright.

"He continues to show what he can do with very good stuff," manager Ryne Sandberg said after Hamels' latest effort.

Hamels was excellent again last night in Miami. But he briefly lost his mojo during a five-pitch span in the fourth inning at Marlins Park and the Phillies' offense was once again MIA in support of the 30-year-old lefthander.

Hamels gave up three consecutive one-out singles as the Marlins put an end to a scoreless tie and rode the right arm of Henderson Alvarez to a 2-0 victory.

In five pitches, Hamels went from a locked-in battle with Alvarez to seeing Miami rip three of his pitches into the outfield for base hits. Game over.

"I thought they were good pitches, too - that's what stinks," Hamels said. "They were at least the pitches I wanted to throw at the right time - they missed by just a hair."

Alvarez outdueled Hamels, needing just 97 pitches to get through 7 2/3 shutout innings. He allowed five hits; the only one that went for extra-bases came off Hamels' bat and was only ruled a double because leftfielder Christian Yelich didn't get a glove on the ball after badly misplaying it.

The shutout defeat was the second of the current road trip and 15th of the season for the Phillies. They were also shut out 15 times last season.

"I'd say for the most part [Alvarez] has given us a tough time this year," Sandberg said of the Marlins righthander, who had a 1.52 ERA in six starts against the Phillies this season. "He's good with his live fastball. He's got some body action out there that has some deception to it."

Since the beginning of last season, Hamels has been on the wrong end of five shutout losses.

During that same time, Hamels has a 3.07 ERA in 52 starts. The Phillies, however, are 16 games under .500 when he's taken the mound (18-34).

"Once again, he goes out and does his job," Sandberg said. "Minimal pitches. Quality. He almost had to be perfect pitching the way he does without a lead. He continues to do what he's got to do. He gives us a chance to win."

Despite his never-ending hard luck, Hamels hasn't succumbed to the pressure of trying to be perfect. Instead, he's only gotten better. Hamels has a 1.89 ERA in the 22 starts he's made since June 1. Beginning with his fourth start of the season, on May 11 at Citi Field, Hamels has a 2.05 ERA in his last 26 starts.

Hamels has a 2.47 ERA this season; it's next to impossible for him not to get through his season finale on Sunday without a sub-2.79 ERA, his previous career low (2011).

And yet, he has all of nine wins next to his name on the stat sheet. The last Phillies pitcher to make at least 20 starts with the team, have a sub-2.50 ERA and fewer than nine wins was George Chalmers, who went 8-9 with a 2.48 ERA in 26 games (20 starts) for the 1915 National League pennant winners.

"When you're looking at guys with ERAs [like that] most of them have 18 to 20 wins," Hamels said. "So, it's just going out there and trying to plug away and working toward something next year. I think that's kind of what I can control.

"When you start a season and you make personal goals, what can you control and what can't you control, your ERA and innings are what you can really control. The other part is the team aspect. And as much as you want to win every game possible, you have to set more realistic goals and those are more along the lines of ERA and innings."

When Miami rightfielder Ed Lucas jumped on a high fastball and ripped it into centerfield, Hamels jumped off the mound and yelled at himself. He left a pitch up and paid for it.

"It was supposed to be a little more up," Hamels said.

The Marlins took the lead. The Phillies never scored.

And so, Hamels and the Phillies, yet again, lost.

On Twitter: @ryanlawrence21

Blog: ph.ly/HighCheese