John Smallwood: Hamels knows how to get over it

IT HAD TO have been a strange feeling for Cole Hamels to look up at the eighth inning of Sunday's game with the New York Mets and see a big crooked number in the scoring column for the Phillies.

Five runs in an inning?

For the past two seasons, Hamels would have been overjoyed to get five runs from the Phillies in a game that he had started.

For whatever reason, Hamels has been the poster guy for pitchers who suffer from a lack of run support.

Last season, Hamels allowed two earned runs or fewer in 21 of his 31 starts (68 percent) and three or fewer in 26 (84 percent).

He had a career-low earned run average of 2.79.

Still, Hamels only finished with a 14-9 record. In 2010, he had a strong 3.06 ERA but only had a 12-11 record.

It has been all about run support for Hamels - or rather a lack of it.

So with the Phillies posting an 8-2 victory over the Mets, the final score made it seem like Hamels, for a change, had one of those comfortable outings where a starting pitcher could breathe a little.

Nothing could have been further from the truth.

Like I said, that five spot the Phillies posted came in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Hamels only pitched seven.

The truth is that he had to work as hard as he has ever had to earn his first victory at Citizens Bank Park since July 22, 2011.

"That [stinks]," Hamels, who scattered six hits and struck out 10, said of the four straight he had lost at home.

There probably isn't any logical reason for why a team will put up a lot of runs for one pitcher and then have to scratch and claw to get anything for another.

But as one of those guys who has been getting the short end for a while, Hamels crossed the big hurdle of not letting it affect him several seasons ago.

He has learned to pitch on that fine line where worrying about runs doesn't prevent him from fulfilling his primary role as a starter - which is giving his team the opportunity to win.

On Sunday, Hamels spent the better part of the game pitching with the knowledge that the two runs he gave up in the first inning might just bite him in the behind.

It wasn't until the seventh inning that the Phillies finally got him a lead at 3-2.

The brilliance of Hamels was during the second through sixth innings when he kept the Mets from extending their advantage.

"You put it behind you," Hamels said of his two-run first inning. "I think I've become very good at getting over things and just starting back over.

"No matter what occurred, I need to get the next guy out. I think that's something I had to learn, probably the hard way. But you just keep plugging away.

"If you are able to do that and keep the intensity and focus, you are going to be able to have games like this when you get it in the end."

A statement like that should not be taken lightly, especially when it comes from a guy who is just entering the prime of his career.

Sports are statistic driven.

Sometimes we are so caught up in a pitcher's wins and losses that we overlook his ability to keep his team in a game no matter the circumstances.

That's the mastery of a mental aspect of the game.

For anyone who has ever questioned Hamels' toughness, think about what it takes for a starter to go out inning after inning without run support, knowing that his task is to keep things close even though he probably won't get the individual win even if the team does.

Hamels was 7-6 in 15 starts at CBP last season despite giving up three or fewer runs in 13 of those starts.

"It takes time to learn that," Hamels said, conceding that a younger version of him did not handle a lack of run support nearly as well. "When you come up the ranks of baseball, you only think about your ultimate goal of getting to the big leagues.

"But once you get here, you have to know how to manufacture wins. In order for your team to do that, you have to keep plugging away and doing your job no matter what is going on.

"You can't let things distract you. You have to be able to pull things together with your catcher and execute one pitch at a time.

"It's a long season. The game of baseball can really come down to the guys who know how to keep grinding it out."

Sometimes you even get a win because of it.