Cole Hamels came into tonight looking for his first big outing after signing that new extension a couple of weeks ago. The Philadelphia Phillies also came in looking for a big win as they set out to earn their 50th victory of the season against the Atlanta Braves.
Coming into tonight, the Phillies were 16.5 GB in the National League East as well as 12.5 GB for the second wild card slot. Theoretically, the Phillies have been eliminated from all playoff contention, but they still have a lot to play for.
The Phils’ will be using a lot of different lineups for the rest of the year. There will be many position changes regularly for players such as Nate Schierholtz, Domonic Brown, and John Mayberry Jr. These next two months of the season will be used to evaluate new talent, such as Schierholtz, and reevaluate players on the cusp of a major league career, mainly Brown and Mayberry Jr.
Hamels had a lot of work to do tonight against a talented Braves lineup. He was able to dominate all facets of the game. Hamels struck out six batters while only giving up 5 hits in the ballgame. Hamels also threw his fifth career shutout in the process.
Ryan Howard led the way offensively when he hit his 5th home run of the season in the bottom of the first. Brown also contributed with an RBI double to get the Phillies out to a 3-0 lead heading into the second.
Hamels got out of any trouble that he found himself in by getting a lot of swing and misses on perfectly located pitches. Hamels was able to keep the ball down and limit any extra base hits. He was so good that only one player for the Braves reached second base, the others were stranded at first, erased on a double play ball or thrown out at second trying to stretch a single into a double.
Hamels added his twelfth victory to his record. He is currently 12-6 with a 3.14 ERA.
All in all, Hamels showed that he has found his game and that last his start in Atlanta was well out of his memory. Hamels was able to deal all night and help his team cruise to a quick 3-0 shutout in front of 42,660 people.
The time of the game was 2 hours and 16 mins, which is one of the quickest games all year for the Phillies.
The series finale against the Braves is set for tomorrow night, Wednesday, at 7:05 PM where Kyle Kendrick (4-9, 4.45) will be opposed by Tim Hudson (11-4, 3.45).
David A. Cattai is the Featured Writer for the Philadelphia Flyers with Rant Sports, Beat Writer covering the Philadelphia Phillies’ for Buzz On Broad and Phillies’ Analyst for Philly Sports Nut.
Follow me on Twitter @DCattaiSports for all Flyers, Phillies, NHL, and MLB sports updates.
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August 07, 2012
