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 Given his first lead in 30 innings this year after Philadelphia
rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh inning, Hamels
mowed down the St. Louis Cardinals in order and then watched the
bullpen finish off a 4-1 win in Busch Stadium.
Hamels (1-2) received just four runs of support in his previous six
starts, dating back to last September, but he got just enough to
start the Phillies' 10-game road trip in a positive fashion.
"You don't have to be as precise," the left-hander said of pitching
with a lead. "You can let it go a little bit and see what happens.
That situation would energize anybody."
Hamels fanned a season-high nine over seven innings and 114 pitches,
yielding four hits and a run while walking four. Wild at times in
the early innings, Hamels retired the last seven hitters he faced,
peppering the upper part of the strike zone with fastballs and
cutters.
"Cole was good," Philadelphia manager Ryne Sandberg said after his
team improved to 8-12. "He had the one inning where he gave up three
hits in a row for their run, but he minimized the damage. It seemed
like he stepped up a notch when he got the run support."
Hamels played a part in the Phillies' game-changing rally, dropping
a sacrifice bunt that pushed catcher Carlos Ruiz and shortstop
Freddy Galvis into scoring position with two outs for left fielder
Ben Revere.
Hitting just .191 prior to that at-bat, Revere plopped a two-run
double just inside the left field foul line to give his team the
lead for good. Center fielder Odubel Herrera followed with his third
hit of the night, an RBI single.
That was enough to make a loser of John Lackey (1-1), who permitted
nine hits over seven innings with one walk and one strikeout.
"I felt pretty good for the most part," Lackey said. "I had a ball
pretty much fall on the line on me and scored a couple of runs. But
it happens."
The Cardinals (12-6) squandered opportunities to take advantage of
Hamels' occasional control lapses in the game's first five innings.
After allowing a two-out RBI single to left fielder Matt Holliday in
the third, Hamels passed first baseman Matt Adams to fill the bases,
but right fielder Mark Reynolds bounced out to second.
In the fifth, Hamels doled out an intentional walk to Holliday with
third baseman Matt Carpenter at second following a one-out double.
Hamels made the move pay off, slipping a breaking ball past Adams
for a called third strike.
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St. Louis didn't get another man on base until second baseman Kolten
Wong doubled with two outs in the ninth against closer Jonathan
Papelbon. After Jay was hit by a 1-2 pitch to bring the potential
tying run to the plate, Papelbon fanned pinch hitter Cody Stanley on
three pitches to notch his fifth save.
Philadelphia tacked on its last run in the ninth when Ruiz, whose
leadoff double in the inning was his fourth hit of the night, scored
from third on an infield out by first baseman Darin Ruf.
"We're playing a tough team over there," Hamels said. "Personal wins
are something you don't focus on as much. You're worrying about the
team. It's nice to set the tone for our road trip with a win."
NOTES: St. Louis announced Monday that RHP Adam Wainwright will
undergo season-ending Achilles surgery Thursday and will be
sidelined for nine to 12 months. The club has not yet decided who
will take his spot in the rotation for Thursday's game. ...
Philadelphia 1B Ryan Howard and 2B Chase Utley made the 1,093rd
start as a duo in their career Monday, the most of any active pair
in the major league. ... Cardinals C Yadier Molina (knee) returned
to the lineup after a two-game absence, but RF Jason Heyward
(hamstring) did not start. Heyward said it was a planned off day
since the Phillies started LHP Cole Hamels, who has held him to a
.219 average in 32 at-bats. Heyward struck out as a ninth-inning
pinch hitter.
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