Hamels Pitches Gem, Phillies Sweep Nationals
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Phillies lefthander Cole Hamels struck out a season-high 10 hitters while pitching an eight inning gem on Thursday. Hamels helped himself with the bat too singling in 1 of 2 sixth inning runs scored off of Washington’s reliever Tyler Clippard while winning his 10th game of the season. Closer Brad Lidge gave up a run on a ninth inning 1 out triple and a groundout but notched his 30th save as the Phillies swept the Nationals winning the series final by a 4-2 score.
With the win, the Phils maintained a 7 1/2 game NL East division lead over 2nd place Atlanta who pounded the Mets. 3rd place Florida dropped to 8 games back by losing to Cincinnati. The Phils’ magic number is at 10 games to clinch the Division title. They have 17 games remaining in the regular season.
Just how good was Hamels? He continued a fine string of quality starts by carrying a perfect game through five innings retiring the first 15 hitters he faced before 1st baseman Mike Morse led off the sixth with a single to leftfield. Hamels then struck out the side to end the inning. The Phillies, meanwhile, broke a 0-0 deadlock against Nationals’ rookie starter Ross Detwiler with a 2 out fifth inning RBI double by shortstop Jimmy Rollins after 3rd baseman Pedro Feliz opened the inning with a walk.
Detwiler also had a fine five inning outing, perhaps his best outing of the season, pitching only a shade under Hamels and giving up only 3 hits through four innings. But by the end of five innings, Detwiler had thrown 87 pitches while walking 1, striking out 6 and giving up 1 run on 5 hits. He was replaced by Clippard, who has been wild throughout the series, to open the sixth. Clippard walked 3 more Phils hitters in 2/3rds of the sixth inning as Hamels’ single drove in the Phils’ 2nd run. Clippard’s 3rd walk forced in the Phillies 3rd run.
Washington scored its 1st run against Hamels in the seventh inning with 1 out on 3 straight singles with the capper being rightfielder Elijah Dukes’ RBI single to leftfield.
AP sports writer Dan Gelston recaps the seventh inning for Yahoo sports:
Hamels…. finally ran into trouble in the seventh when he gave up a run and loaded the bases. The left-hander got Mike Morse to fly out and struck out Josh Bard to escape the jam.
The Phils scored an insurance run in their seventh inning as 2nd baseman Chase Utley walked, reached 2nd base on a wild pitch by lefthanded reliever Ron Villone and took 3rd on a ground out out by 1st baseman Ryan Howard. Utley scored the Phils’ 4th run on a 2nd wild pitch, this one by reliever Logan Kensing.
By the end of the eighth inning, Hamels had thrown 109 pitches and was replaced by Lidge to open the ninth. Lidge got a flyout, but Dukes tripled to left centerfield and scored on a ground out. Lidge got pinch hitter Willie Harris to pop out to centerfield to end it and to notch his 30th save on the season.
In related news, AP’s Gelston reports:
CF Shane Victorino left in the seventh with a gastrointestinal illness…. RHP Chan Ho Park will miss two to three weeks with a strained right hamstring. He has a 2.52 ERA in 38 relief appearances.
For the scores of all of Thursday’s games, click here.
The Phillies now head to Atlanta for a weekend series with the Braves. Rookie lefthander J.A. Happ, who missed his last couple of starts due to an oblique injury, goes against Tim Hudson in Friday’s opener.
For all of Friday’s and Saturday’s and Sunday’s games, click here, here and here.
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