Phillies' offense finally supports Hamels

PHOENIX - That large, bright, foreign object sitting next to the word "Phillies" on the scoreboard represented the number of runs they had scored.

You couldn't blame Cole Hamels for staring at it with confusion. In 12 of his past 15 regular-season starts, the Phillies had failed to score more than three runs. The fact that they had won half of those games was a testament to how well their 27-year-old lefthander had pitched. That part of the equation remained constant yesterday, but for the first time in a long time Hamels' lineup backed a solid outing with some run support as the Phillies avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of the Diamondbacks with an 8-4 victory.

"We don't usually score a lot of runs for Cole," said shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who had an RBI double in the first inning and later added a two-run homer, "but I think it's helped him to become a tougher pitcher. I think when he takes the mound, he kind of knows that, so he goes out there prepared to battle in close games."

The rooster crowed for a lot of lumber yesterday: Rollins' double in the three-run first inning was his first extra-base hit in 47 plate appearances dating back to April 15. Ryan Howard homered in the ninth inning, his first in 62 plate appearances. And the Phillies scored their most runs since beating the Braves, 10-2, on April 9.

Heading into the game, the Phillies had not scored more than three runs in any of Hamels' four starts this season. Yesterday, though, they gave him a 3-0 lead before he even took the mound. Hamels responded by holding the Diamondbacks to three runs on four hits with eight strikeouts and one walk in seven innings. Five days after throwing 126 pitches, one shy of a career high, Hamels looked strong throughout a 108-pitch outing. The Diamondbacks got an RBI double from Melvin Mora in the second inning and a two-run homer from Chris Young in the seventh, but were otherwise muted.

"Pitching with a little bit of a cushion helps, but at the same time I don't want to give up runs," said Hamels, who is 3-1 with a 3.13 ERA. "My main objective is to go out and try to go deep in the ballgame and allow as few runs, or none, if possible. You battle as far as you possibly can. Today, coming with a win was good for us, because we came out of the gates and we were hitting."

Pacing the attack once again was third baseman Placido Polanco, who went 4-for-5 to improve his batting average to .389. Polanco has hit safely in eight straight games, reached base safely in 16 straight games, and has tallied multiple hits in 11 of the Phillies' 24 games. But he entered yesterday's game with more RBI (16) than runs (13), a pretty good indication of his teammates' struggles to drive him home. (The contact-hitting Polanco has never finished a season with more RBI than runs.)

Yesterday, that wasn't a problem. Polanco scored three runs, two of them on Rollins' double and home run, as the Phillies improved to 16-8 and reclaimed first place by a half-game over the Marlins. Shane Victorino contributed a solo home run in the second inning.

Rollins' homer was his first of 2011, raising some hope that the shortstop is starting to find a groove in his new spot in the three-hole. Rollins, who is hitting .271, has reached base safely in 22 of 24 games this season and has hit safely in five straight.

"Sometimes, that means a lot," manager Charlie Manuel said of the home run, which came on a cutter from Joe Saunders. "I've seen guys, when they hit one, all of a sudden relax and things start going good for them."

The victory prevented a three-game sweep at the hands of the Diamondbacks and brought to an end a seven-game West Coast trip in which the Phillies won five games. They are one victory shy of tying their record of 17 April wins, set in 1993.

For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read David Murphy's blog, High Cheese, at www.philly.com/HighCheese.

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