Reflections on the Phillies-Yankees Game Last Night

1. As a Phillies' fan, it's hard to say that Cole Hamels disappointed me. How he pitched last night has pretty much been the way he's worked all year. He can go 4, 5 innings and pitch well, only to have the floor come out from under him thereafter. There are a few reasons for this. First, he was a three-pitch pitcher last year, and all of those pitches worked well for him. This year, his curveball has gone AWOL, and most Major League lineups will feast on a two-pitch starting pitcher after they go through the lineup once or at most twice. The Yankees aren't like most Major League teams -- they're better. As I've said before, the post-season magnifies a team's weaknesses, and this post-season has magnified the struggles that Hamels has had this year. Second, Hamels pitched many more innings in 2008 than he did in 2007. According to experts (such as Buck Showalter), history has demonstrated that a pitcher in Hamels circumstances would not have a g...