Sheridan: No more starts for Hamels

For three innings, he was Cole Hamels, dazzling the New York Yankees like it was 2008 again.

And then he was Cole Hamlet, lost in his own head again. The transition happened right before the eyes of 46,000 fans in Citizens Bank Park and a national TV audience of millions. Most important, it happened in front of his teammates and his manager, who had good reasons to doubt their erstwhile ace long before Game 3 started.

Because of that, and because of the position he put his team in, Hamels has to be finished in this World Series. The Phillies trail two games to one after the 8-5 loss, but even if this thing goes seven games, the MVP of the 2008 World Series can't be counted on to make another appearance.

Imagine that.

The game started with so much promise, too. Hamels took the mound looking unshaven and unshakable. He had a different sort of look in his eye and, taking a page from teammate Cliff Lee's book, he seemed to be working faster than usual.

And so he burned through the Yankees' lineup once with an economical 29 pitches. The only batter to reach base was Alex Rodriguez, who took a first-pitch fastball off his left biceps. When Hamels retired Johnny Damon to lead off the fourth, he had not allowed a hit.

Cole Hamels threw a 3-2 fastball down and in to Mark Teixeira and that was that. He was Cole Hamlet from that moment on.

Hamels clearly thought it was strike 3. Take the little strike zone graphic on your TV screen for what it's worth, but it seemed to show the ball catching the inside corner. Hamels turned away from plate umpire Brian Gorman (the same ump who missed two calls at first base in Game 2) and mouthed the single word, "Wow."

Wow.

Hamels has a long and self-acknowledged problem with controlling his emotions when something goes wrong. He lets it get to him. In Los Angeles during the National League Championship Series, he threw up his arms in disgust after second baseman Chase Utley's throwing error on a potential double play ball allowed a run to score.

Sure enough, Hamels gave up a home run to Manny Ramirez, the very next batter. It was the only real damage done by Ramirez in the entire series.

Two pitches after "Wow"? Well, wow. Just wow. Hamels grooved a pitch to hitless-for-the-Series Rodriguez, then turned to watch a towering fly ball ride the slipstream toward right field. The ball caromed at an odd angle and Rodriguez made it to second base. From there, he immediately began twirling his finger - the signal for a home run.

Replays showed the ball struck the front of the Fox camera, which protruded over the right-field fence just above the 330 sign. The umpires reviewed the play on a monitor and ruled it a two-run home run.

It was an absurd situation. There's no way to know whether the ball would have cleared the metal fence along the top of the wall if not for the camera. Crew chief Gerry Davis apparently treated the camera's effect on the play the same as he would fan interference. Either way, it was the final blow to Hamels' crumbling psyche.

He got out of the fourth without further damage, but gave up a leadoff double in the fifth to Nick Swisher. Pitcher Andy Pettitte stroked an RBI single into center field. Derek Jeter singled, bringing up lefthanded hitting Johnny Damon. Hamels threw a fastball for strike 1, then surrendered a two-run double to right-center.

Hamels had gone from ace to anti-ace, from inspiring confidence in his own team to firing up the opponent. You could see the Yankees find their swagger, turning a 3-0 deficit into a 5-3 lead in the span of eight batters. Hamels ran another full count on Teixeira, then threw his final pitch of the game so far out of the strike zone there was no way for the umpire to miss the call.

Wow.

Contrast Cole Hamlet with Pettitte. The veteran lefty gave up a base hit to Jimmy Rollins on his very first pitch of the game. Pettitte struck out Chase Utley and Ryan Howard to snuff out that threat. In the second inning, Pettitte gave up three runs - a solo blast by Jayson Werth, a bases-loaded walk of Rollins, and a sacrifice fly to Shane Victorino.

But he struck out Utley again with two men on to contain the damage. After that, Pettitte got control of himself as well as the Phillies.

His first three innings proved that Hamels still has the ability to dominate a great lineup the way he did last October. His last two proved that his inability to dominate his emotions are the fatal flaw in Prince Hamlet's makeup.

Because of that, they must be his last two innings of 2009.