Hamels Overpowers Giants in Phillies Win
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Cole Hamels only needed 1 Phillies’ run on Tuesday in a dominating 2 hit complete game shutout performance. It was a classic battle of lefthanders with San Francisco’s Jonathan Sanchez who also tossed a fine six inning 3 hit performance. The Phils scored the only run of the game in the fourth inning as 1st baseman Ryan Howard doubled to right to score centerfielder Shane Victorino who led of the inning with a single and stole 2nd base. Hamels overpowered the Giants as the Phillies won by a 1-0 score in the opener of their 3 game series.
With the win, the Phils maintained an 8 game lead over 2nd place Atlanta in the NL East division. The Braves beat Florida pushing the Marlins to 3rd place 9 games back. The Colorado Rockies pounded the Mets who dropped to 18 1/2 games back in 4th place. With the Rockies win and the Giants loss, The Rockies took a 1 game lead over the Giants in the NL wild-card race.
Hamels’ complete game marked 19 innings without giving up a run over the span of 3 starts. Hamels threw 118 pitches while giving up 2 hits, walking 1 and striking out 9. It was the lefthander’s 2nd complete game shutout of the season, the other being a 3-0 win over the Dodgers back on June 4th.
Hamels was masterful in only allowing 3 Giants to reach; the first on a second inning lead off double by 1st baseman Ryan Garko after which he retired the next 21 Giants in a row and became stronger as the game went on. In the ninth, pinch hitter Rich Aurilia led off with a single to leftfield. Aurilia was pulled for a pinch runner who Hamels picked off of 1st base. Hamels then issued his only walk of the game to pinch hitter Pablo Sandoval. He then struck out pinch hitter Benjie Molina and got shortstop Edgar Renteria to foul out to 1st base to end the game.
Giants starter Sanchez, who earlier in the season was 1 error from a perfect game, was nearly as lethal as Hamels. He threw 115 pitches in six innings giving up a run on 3 hits while walking 3 and striking out 8. He put down 9 of the first 10 Phils he faced before Victorino led off the fourth with a single to left centerfield. After 2nd baseman Chase Utley grounded out, Howard lined a double to rightfield scoring the ‘Flyin’ Hawaiian.’
The Phils only put 2 men on once, in the fifth inning and never really seriously threatened offensively. Sanchez’s performance was worthy of a better fate than a loss, but Hamels was just tooo domnant in this one.
In addition to a powerful pitching effort, AP sports writer Rob Maaddi describes how Hamels scored a first on the bases:
Hamels even picked up his first career stolen base in the fifth after failing to execute a sacrifice bunt. He reached on a fielder’s choice and then swiped second base without a throw before Jimmy Rollins grounded out to end the inning.
It was the first stolen base by a Phillies pitcher since Curt Schilling had one in 1997.
Hamels gave first-base coach Davey Lopes credit for the steal.
“He said, ‘Have you ever slid?”’ Hamels said. “I said, ‘Yeah,’ so he said, ‘Go.’ I was going to blame it on him if I was out.”
For the scores of all of Monday’s and Tuesday’s games, click here and here.
In Wednesday’s game 2, lefthanded rookie-of-the-year candidate J.A. Happ opposes newly acquired Brad Penny. In Thursday’s final Pedro Martinez faces CY Young Award candidate Tim Lincecum who won the award last season and who has pitched consistently well since All Star break but has fallen victim in 4 games to lack of offensive support.
For all of Wednesday’s games, click here.
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