Cole Hamels doesn't seem like the type to lack in confidence under ordinary circumstances. How confident must Hamels be now after the game he pitched last night, where he went 7 shutout innings last night after pitching a complete game shutout against the Braves last Friday?
Hamels pretty much mowed through the Washington Nationals last night for a 1 - 0 win as the Phils finally figured out a way to score a run in the Nationals' new ballpark. CMH only gave up 4 runs, walking 2, and struck out 11, and amazingly, he didn't even get the win. The reason for that is that the Phillies offense was flummoxed by the pitching prowess of Jason Bergmann for the Nats. Bergmann matched Hamels as he tossed 7 innings of shutout ball.
The Phils got their run off of substitute closer Jon Rauch in the 9th inning. Pedro Feliz laced a lead off double (then lifted for PR Eric Bruntlett), was sacrificed to third by Carlos Ruiz, and was knocked in by a timely pinch hit single from the bat of Greg "The Natural" Dobbs. If not for a tremendous block of the plate by Nats catcher Jesus Flores, the Phils could have gotten the insurance run (as Dobbs eventually came around on a Shane Victorino hit), but Brad Lidge came in and pitched a scoreless 9th inning to save it for 8th inning pitcher Tom Gordon.
The series against Washington concludes tonite at 7:10, with Jamie Moyer going up against Matt Chico. The game should be on locally on CSN.
Did you notice?
- Ryan Howard; 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts. Sigh.....
- This is only the 2nd win against 4 losses against the Nats for the Phils this season and the run they scored broke a 17 inning scoreless streak in Washington.
- Further supporting the Phils' ineptitude against the Nationals, the Phils have a team OPS of .673 against the Nationals. The Phils, against the rest of the league, hold a .765 OPS. Clearly, someone is doing a good job of scouting for Washington (as announcer Chris Wheeler appropriately observed last night).
Programming Note: Flyers post-mortem tomorrow (barring a Jamie Moyer no-hitter).
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