Hamels, Bullpen Shutout Nationals
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Phillies ace lefthander Cole Hamels outpitched his lefty opponent John Lannan going 7 1/3 shutout innings with the bullpen finishing the job. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins drove in 2 runs as the Phillies ended the Nationals’ 7 game winning streak on Tuesday with a 4-0 shutout win.
With the win, the Phillies remained 2 games behind the NL East division leading Mets who edged the Milwaukee Brewers in 10 innings. The 4th place Atlanta Braves rallied against the 3rd place Marlins in a slugfest. The Marlins dropped to 8 games back while the Braves remained 18 games behind.
Lannan set down the first 6 Phillies hitters in order before 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz opened the third inning with a single to centerfield.
After catcher Carlos Ruiz grounded into a fielder’s choice with Feliz out at 2nd base, Hamels sacrificed to 3rd moving Ruiz to 2nd from where he scored on Jimmy Rollins’ single to leftfield. Rollins advanced to 2nd on the throw home. 2nd baseman Chase Utley followed with a single to center scoring Rollins as the Phils took a 2-0 lead. Utley took 3rd base on rightfielder Jayson Werth’s single to center but was later caught trying to steal home as the side was retired. Washington’s catcher Jesus Flores was carried from the field after the play as a result of being barreled into by Utley on the play.
The AP recap of the game describes the collision at the plate for Yahoo sports;
“When I saw him in the type of pain that he was, I was very worried,” Washington manager Manny Acta said. “I felt really bad for the kid, but X-rays were negative and it just looks like an ankle sprain right now. We’ll have an MRI tomorrow and we’ll find out more about it, but the good news is that the X-rays didn’t show anything.”
The collision came as Utley was attempting to steal home with two outs. With runners on first and third, Lannan made a pickoff throw to first and Utley broke for home.
Utley arrived at the plate just after the throw from first baseman Ronnie Belliard and crashed hard into Flores. After he tagged out Utley, Flores stayed on the ground near home plate for several minutes as his left leg was attended to by trainers and medical personnel.
Meanwhile Hamels survived doubles in the first and second innings as Washington had a hitter reach either by hit or by walk in four of the first six innings.
The Phils scored 2 more runs in the seventh off of reliever Levale Speigner as Feliz and Ruiz both singled and Hamels grounded out to 3rd base advancing both runners. Rollins singled to right scoring Feliz with Ruiz taking 3rd base. The AP recap notes that;
Ruiz then scored as Rollins was caught in a rundown between first and second during an inning-ending double play.
But the big story in the game was Hamels who has made 29 starts this season and has pitched at least seven innings 23 times—the most in the majors. He sports a 3.01 ERA for the season in 203 innings.
The AP recap recorded comments about Hamels from shortstop Jimmy Rollins;
“He gets a quality start pretty much every time out,” Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins said. “He gives you a chance to win. His record doesn’t necessarily indicate that, but his ERA does. Sometimes good pitchers run into bad luck. There have been games we have blown, games that we just haven’t scored, and then there are games like tonight, where all it takes is one or two runs and he can work with it.”
Hamels won his 12th game of the season against 8 losses, tying him with Jamie Moyer for the staff lead in wins. He threw 104 pitches in 7 1/3 innings giving up 5 hits, walking 3 and striking out 6.
J.C. Romero, Chad Durbin and closer Brad Lidge put the lights out on the Nationals through the final 1 2/3 innings.
Losing pitcher John Lannan went six innings giving up 2 runs on 5 hits while walking 2 and striking out 4.
For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Tuesday’s games, click here.
In Wednesday’s final, Joe Blanton is opposed by lefthander Odalis Perez.
The Phils have Thursday off before, the travelling to Shea stadium on Friday for their final 3 regular season games against the Mets. In the opener, Brett Myers is opposed by Mike Pelfrey.
For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Wednesday’s games, click here.
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