He surrendered a ninth-inning home run to pinch-hitter Brandon Moss, but the Phillies won it on Ryan Howard's three-run homer in the 10th. The night helped to ease one concern for the team, Hamels' inconsistency, and exacerbate another, the bullpen. Madson pitched a scoreless 10th to earn the win.

Hamels has created many more questions than answers this season, but close observers of his games have learned a few things. The 25-year-old often struggles to overcome frustration during subpar performances, compounding his problems and creating disastrous innings.

He has failed to consistently throw strikes with his fastball after commanding that pitch masterfully last season, particularly on the outside corner. He understands the need to develop a curveball but has been reluctant to do so because he does not have confidence in the pitch.

The first point, the composure, has been a particular struggle, and has helped lead to the issues with fastball command. Manager Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee have both noticed, and Hamels has admitted, that he needs to focus better during bad innings.

Dubee said before the game that, despite repeated suggestions to do otherwise, Hamels has often overthrown his fastball, sacrificing location for extra velocity. This is a particular issue when Hamels is struggling with his pitches and attempts to overcompensate.

"Responding to the feedback and actually doing it are two different things," Dubee said. "He should not be throwing the fastball like he's trying to put it through a brick wall. No, I haven't seen him do it consistently well yet."

Hamels had yet another chance to show improvement on all the above benchmarks. The first inning, which Hamels began with a 1-0 lead after a Chase Utley home run, featured a rare swinging strikeout achieved by the curveball against Delwyn Young.

The second inning began ominously but offered Hamels a chance to calmly work out of trouble. The first two batters reached base on singles, bringing up the bottom third of the Pittsburgh order. Manuel said before the game that he wanted to see Hamels return to being "smooth and easy, concentrate on making quality pitches," and the pitcher did just that, retiring the next three batters in order.

Hamels pitched around a leadoff single in the third, facing the minimum three batters because of a caught stealing, and left the bases loaded in the fourth. Hamels' command through the early part of the game was good - he threw 47 strikes and 26 balls in the first four innings - but his pitch count, which he had struggled to keep low in many recent starts, reached 76. Still, he had twice maneuvered out of trouble.

A 12-pitch fifth, featuring two strikeouts and a dazzling catch in deep center by a sprinting Shane Victorino, kept the score at 1-0. Hamels followed that with a seven-pitch sixth.

His lead remained narrow, as the Phils could do little against Pirates starter Paul Maholm after Utley's homer, leaving five runners on base in the first seven innings. But in that same span, Hamels needed only the one-run cushion, as he again stranded two runners in the seventh.

Contact staff writer Andy Martino at 215-854-4874 or amartino@phillynews.com.