Hamels Sprains Ankle, Phillies Bash Nationals
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Phillies ace lefthander Cole Hamels went 1 out into the fifth inning with a 3 hit, 5-0 shutout going, but went down spraining his ankle attempting to field a bunt by opposing pitcher John Lannan. 1st baseman Chase Utley, 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz and leftfielder Raul Ibanez took care of the offensive chores drilling 4 homers accounting for all Phils’ runs while Chad Durbin shut down Washington in 3 1/3 innings of long relief as the Phillies bashed the Nationals by a 7-1 score on Tuesday.
With 1 out in the fifth inning, Nationals shortstop Alberto Gonzalez stroked a 1-1 pitch for a single to centerfield bringing up pitcher Lannan who bunted Hamels’ next pitch toward the mound. Hamels stooped to field the ball and rolled his left ankle and then rolled on the ground in pain as Lannan reached on the play with Gonzalez reaching 2nd base. Once on his feet, Hamels tried to throw a warm-up pitch and was then pulled for reliever Durbin who got the side out on 9 pitches.
The AP recap for Yahoo sports reports on the status of Hamels’ ankle:
X-rays on Hamels’ ankle were negative and the pitcher said he was planning to make his next start, although it will depend on how he responds to treatment.
“There’s some frustration, almost comedy,” said Hamels, who missed a chance to earn his first victory…
Hamels allowed four hits and struck out four in 4 1-3 innings, leaving with a 5-0 lead.
“It didn’t look that good, hopefully it’s not too bad,” Utley said about Hamels’ injury.
The World Series MVP left last Thursday’s start against Milwaukee with a bruised left shoulder after being hit by Prince Fielder’s line drive with one out in the fourth.
By the time that Hamels injured his ankle, the Phils had staked him to a 5-0 lead in the third inning and the ace lefthander was looking like an MVP. centerfielder Shane Victorino lined a 2-2 pitch for a single into left centerfield. Utley followed pounding an 0-2 pitch out to right centerfield to put the Phils up 2-0.
Rightfielder Jayson Werth followed by reaching on a fielding error by shortstop Gonzalez and Lannan then issued an intentional walk to Ibanez. Feliz followed nailing Lannan’s first pitch for a 3 run shot to leftfield and a 5-0 Phillies lead.
Utley then led of the fifth by taking Lannan to a 3-1 count before lining his 2nd homer of the game to rightfield and extending the Phils lead to 6-0.
Leftfielder Adam Dunn got the Nationals on the board with their only run of the game with a 1 out solo homer off of Durbin in the sixth inning. It was the only hit Durbin would give up in earning the win with 3 2/3rds innings of long-relief.
Losing pitcher Lannan left the game after five full innings giving up 6 runs on 9 hits, 3 of those hits for homers.
Ibanez added icing to the cake leading off the eighth inning against reliever Saul Rivera with a solo homer, his 7th of the season, giving the Phils their final winning margin of 7-1.
Reliever Clay Condrey closed down the Nationals in the ninth inning to seal the win.
For all of the results of Tuesday’s games, click here.
In the series final Brett Myers looks to pitch the Phillies to a sweep and is opposed by Scott Olsen for the Nationals.
After the series final with the Nationals for 2 more games on Wednesday, the Phils have the day off on Thursday before entertaining the NY Mets in a 3 game early season weekend showdown series on May 1-3.
For all of Wednesday’s games, click here.
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