Phillies edge the Rockies as Cole Hamels wins third straight

DENVER - The ball was in the thin Colorado air only for a few seconds, but it must have felt more like several minutes for Freddy Galvis.

The shortstop saw centerfielder Odubel Herrera raise his arms as the fly ball off the bat of Drew Stubbs came his way. But was Herrera signaling he had a beat on it … or that he had no idea where the ball was headed?

Galvis gave chase. Herrera attempted to play catch-up, but he, too, was too late.

A ball that Herrera, a converted infielder, should have caught fell onto the Coors Field grass, putting Rockies runners on second and third with one out in the fourth inning of a tie game. It was exactly the sort of scenario that had often doomed Hamels and the Phillies in the last three seasons.

But the Phillies are streaking - in a good way - and their leading man was up to the challenge.

Hamels dialed up 95 mph while dispatching D.J. LeMahieu on four pitches and then got opposing pitcher Jordan Lyles, too, escaping trouble.

"That's when he really started to get after it," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said.

Two innings later, Herrera made up for his miscue with a two-out, two run double as the Phillies rolled to their sixth straight victory - a 4-3 decision Monday night.

The Rockies rallied for a run in each of their last two at-bats - Hamels curiously was pulled at 105 pitches after recording the first out in the eighth - but Jonathan Papelbon escaped further trouble by striking out Nolan Arenado with the game-tying run on base, collecting his 10th save of the season.

The win over the Rockies, in last place in the National League West, vaulted the Phillies out of last place in the East for the first time since April 28. Miami, which fired its manager on Sunday, has lost eight of its last 10 games to move into the NL East cellar.

The six-game winning streak is the longest for the Phillies since reeling off seven straight in September 2012 (Sept. 5-12).

"It's been fun," Hamels said. "Everyone is really enjoying themselves … Guys are starting to be little bit more relaxed, but still understanding the name of the game and what we have to do and what we have to accomplish."

Bringing their current streak into Colorado was opportunistic for the Phillies - since the beginning of 2008, they are 34-12 (.739) against the Rockies, which is their best winning percentage against any team over the last eight seasons.

The winning streak that began a week ago with Hamels outdueling fellow lefty Francisco Liriano, of the Pirates, continued with him doing the same in Denver against Lyles. Hamels held Colorado to one run on six hits, while striking out seven and walking one in 7 1/3 innings.

For the first time since lats July, Hamels has won three straight starts. He is 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA in that stretch, piling up 24 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings while walking only four.

"Cole's been really aggressive on the inside part of the plate," Sandberg said before the game. "Even to the point of having hitters move a little bit, [he's] really establishing inside. I think that's really opened up the full plate for him. … And I think with that his stuff has even gotten better. Even hitting 94, 95 with his fastball. It makes his changeup better. I think he has overall made the hitters uncomfortable his last two or three outings."

Hamels also hasn't allowed a home run in his last three starts, and has yielded only one in his last six starts (40 1/3 innings) after allowing seven in his first three starts of the season (18 innings).

Hamels, who had a 5.00 ERA a month ago, now is at 3.24 on the season, 20th best in the National League. The 31-year-old Hamels went on a similar run a year ago: After allowing 13 runs in his first three starts (7.02 ERA), Hamels allowed 15 earned runs in his next 10 starts, cutting his ERA to 2.84 entering July.

Hamels never slowed down in 2014, either: He allowed three runs or fewer in 26 of his final 27 starts (2.06 ERA). In the last calendar year, Hamels is 12-10 with a 2.40 ERA in 34 starts.

"I see him really settling into the type of groove that he was [in] last year," Sandberg said. "Just a little bit earlier [this year]."

The Phillies offense, which has scored a grand total of 20 runs in Hamels' nine starts this season, an average of 2.2 per game, put the pitcher in position to win in the sixth.

Fresh off his first big-league home run a day earlier, rookie Maikel Franco began the rally by taking an 0-2 slider from Lyles and lining it to left. Chase Utley followed with a walk.

Herrera brought both runners home with his ninth double of the season.

Six of Herrera's nine doubles have come on the road, where's he's hitting .318 in 18 games this season. Herrera has hit .206 in 21 games at Citizens Bank Park.

Galvis reached base twice and has hit safely in 25 of his 36 starts this season. Ben Revere had three hits for the second straight game and is hitting .333 in May. Carlos Ruiz knocked in a run and has hit safely in six straight games; he's hitting .300 in May. Ryan Howard had two hits and Utley doubled for the third straight game.

"Guys are working hard, and I think here have been improvements in a lot of different areas - it's coming together," Sandberg said. "Guys are grinding it out and now we find ourselves in a winning streak by doing things better, by the work put in and by really everyone just doing their part a little bit better."