Phillies Salvage Final in Extras as Hamels, 4 Relievers 1 Hit Cardinals
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Phillies lefthander Cole Hamels was once again excellent in an eight inning 1 hit, 97 pitch outing, but again came away with nothing due to lack of offensive support. St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright was nearly as good dueling Hamels for six innings. The game was knotted at 0-0 through ten innings before 3rd baseman Placido Polanco led off the eleventh with a homer and Jayson Werth’s 1 out RBI ground-rule double provided the winning margin. Reliever Chad Durbin notched his 2nd win and closer Brad Lidge was credited with his 8th save in 11 opportunities as the Phillies salvaged the series final in extra innings by a 2-0 score as Hamels and 4 relievers combine to 1 hit the Cardinals.
With the win, the Phils remained 7 games behind NL East division-leading Atlanta who shut out and pounded San Diego. The Phils took over 2nd place as the Mets were shut out by Los Angeles. Sneaking up on the Phils and Mets are the 4th place Florida Marlins who are 9 games off the pace.
Hamels struck out 7 while walking 1 in pitching a magnificent eight inning 1 hitter. The AP game recap for Yahoo notes Hamels’ efforts while coming away with a no-decision:
Hamels retired 12 in a row before [Matt] Holliday singled on a 1-1 pitch to start the fifth. He was quickly erased on a double play when center fielder Shane Victorino made a running catch on Craig’s shallow pop fly with his glove on the grass, and made an easy relay to first.
Werth scooped another ball near the turf with a sliding grab in right field the next at-bat against Molina, and replays showed Werth tapping the ball back into his mitt as he rolled.
The lefty opened with five straight strikeouts and faced one batter above the minimum—none until the eighth—when he walked Yadier Molina on a 3-1 pitch with two outs and then struck out Brendan Ryan.
10 other Phils reached, 9 on hits and 1 via error as Wainwright and the Cards bullpen wiggled out of Phils scoring threats through ten innings before Polanco’s homer and Werth’s RBI double produced the only runs of the game. The Phils left 9 men stranded while mounting scoring threats in the first, second, fourth and eighth innings.
In addition to starter Wainwright who through 97 pitches through six innings giving up 6 hits while fanning 6, the Cards used 6 other relievers before going dowen to defeat in the eleventh inning.
To view the scores of all of Thursday’s games, click here.
The Phils then return home for a 7 game stand, 4 games against the Colorado Rockies and 3 games vs the Arizona Diamondbacks. On Friday, ace Roy Halladay hopes for some offensive support as he opposes Aaron Cook for the Rockies. With Kyle Kendrick’s demotion to the minors, the Phils have as yet not determined their starter to oppose Rockies ace Ubaldo Jimenez.
To view the schedule of all of Friday’s and Saturday’s games, click here and here.
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