Cole Hamels struggles as Phillies lose to Nationals, 5-2

WASHINGTON - The first pitch Cole Hamels delivered last night ended up as a souvenir.

Former Braves, Jays, Rays and A's castoff Yunel Escobar jumped on a fastball and deposited it in the small section of red seats to the left of dead center at Nationals Park. For the third time in as many starts this season, Hamels, the owner of the largest contract in Phillies history, served up the game's first run, putting his team behind.

As he's often done during his decadelong career, Hamels rebounded at first. He retired 10 of the next 11 hitters, five on strikeouts.

But then there was a walk, a balk, a bloop single and, yes, another home run.

April has never been kind to Cole Hamels, and neither were the Washington Nationals in the first of a four-game series. The Nats capitalized on every Hamels mistake as the Phillies fell, 5-2, extending their losing streak to five.

"The position I'm in, I'm supposed to be the guy that stops the slide or stops the bleeding," Hamels said. "That's kind of my job. It's to continue momentum or stop negative momentum. Not being able to do that today is definitely frustrating."

The Phillies (3-7) were in last place in the National League East at game's end. Hamels, who's said he would rather pitch for a contender, has a 5.00 ERA through his first three starts of 2015.

The Phils have scored five total runs in Hamels' starts, but he could hardly blame run support last night. After serving up the leadoff home run to Escobar, Hamels watched his teammates rally back to give him a 2-1 lead, thanks to an RBI triple from Freddy Galvis and a sacrifice fly from Darin Ruf.

But Hamels gave it back.

In the fourth, Hamels issued a one-out walk to Bryce Harper, then was called for a balk. It was the second balk in three starts this season for Hamels, who had only one balk in 63 starts combined in 2013 and 2014.

"They said he broke the rubber," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said.

"I guess my foot crossed," Hamels said. "I just don't understand where the actual cross line is, so I guess I'll have to look that up. Yeah, it kind of sucks, twice in one year, and I know I don't ever balk and over the same one, so I think that was something I tried working on in spring training."

Harper scored two batters later when Wilson Ramos blooped a base hit to no man's land in shallow center, tying the game.

In the fifth, Hamels fell behind Michael Taylor, and the Washington rookie crushed a high, 2-0 fastball into the Phillies' bullpen to give the Nationals a 3-2 lead.

The home run was the major league-leading seventh home run Hamels has surrendered this year. He's already halfway to his 2014 home run total of 14.

"They're definitely adding up, but it's just knowing that I need to make the pitches early," Hamels said. "I think when you're not able to get ahead in the count and you're forced to throw strikes, I have to at least make sure those strikes are down in the zone, not up. I think that's what kind of happened, [I] was getting behind in the count and then leaving pitches up in a very hittable location."

Last season, Hamels allowed 14 home runs in 204 2/3 innings. He's needed only 18 innings to get to the halfway mark this year. When Taylor took Hamels deep in the fifth, he was the 65th batter Hamels had faced in 2015. In 2014, Hamels didn't serve up his seventh home run until the 359th batter he faced, Marlins outfielder Marcell Ozuna on June 26 at Citizens Bank Park.

"The potential stuff is there, it's just about location and making quality pitches all the way through the outing," Sandberg said. "It seems when he's elevated, the hitters haven't missed it up to this point. He just has to concentrate on each pitch and take care of each pitch."

Before his night was through, Hamels gave up some runs that didn't involve a ball leaving the playing field.

With the Phils down, 3-2, Hamels served up a double to former teammate Jayson Werth to begin the sixth, walked Harper, then watched both cross the plate when Ryan Zimmerman followed with a double. In the span of three batters, the game was suddenly out of reach.

"He did leave some balls up in the zone and all of them contributed . . . the two home runs and the double that drove in two and the jam shot were all elevated pitches," Sandberg said. "When he's made some mistakes, he's given up some long balls. He's just not crisp in commanding down in the zone and really taking care of each pitch."

Hamels, who is 14-18 with 4.10 ERA in 42 career starts in April and March, was charged with five runs on five hits in six innings. He struck out seven, walked four and watched two of his 95 pitches land on the wrong side of the fence.

"You just have to go out there and really just kind of work with it and make a couple of adjustments," Hamels said. "It's not a place I want to be in, but I know I need to make the adjustment."

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