Hamels Stops the Bleeding

It wasn’t sexy, but it will have to do.

The Phillies broke a three game losing streak tonight with a 1-0 win over the Nationals in Washington, D.C.  The run came on a pinch-hit single by Greg Dobbs in the top of the ninth.

They still didn’t hit with runners in scoring position.  They still struck out too much.  They still didn’t do many of the little things right.  I can’t say it any plainer than this: They are still in a slump.

But it was all ok tonight, because Cole Hamels was on the mound.

Following up on his first career complete game shutout last week, Hamels pitched 7 more shutout innings tonight.  He struck out 11 while walking two.  In his last five starts against the Nationals, he’s now given up just two earned runs.

I don’t need to tell you Hamels is great; that’s clear to see.  I don’t need to tell you about his change-up; everyone knows it’s devastating.  Or that his fastball is the perfect compliment to that change-up, and that he’s absolutely dealing right now, and that he hasn’t given up a run in the last 19 and a third innings he’s pitched.  Those are numbers, or obvious observations, but either way they don’t tell the story of what he brings to the table.

The Phillies had lost three games in a row coming into tonight, and Cole Hamels took the hill knowing his team needed him to come up big.  In years past, Kevin Millwood or Eric Milton or Freddie Garcia or Jon Lieber would have pitched this game.  We know how it probably would have turned out.

Instead, Hamels goes out there and pitches another gem.  As the game goes on, he gets zero run support.  He still holds his ground and gives up nothing.  He pitches into the 7th, still getting nothing from his teammates, and it doesn’t phase him.  He finishes his night with a strikeout, his eleventh of the night, giving him his second double-digit strikeout game this season.

Cole Hamels is showing his ability to be a stopper, and to win the games he knows he needs to win.  He was always going to be the ace of the staff, and he always had the best stuff of any pitcher on the team.  But right now, on this team, in this month, Hamels finally IS the ace of the staff.

Hockey great Ken Dryden once said, “It’s one thing to be young and promising, and it’s quite another to be good.”  He said it as the U.S. hockey team was set to take on the Soviets in 1980.  Over the next few hours, he watched that U.S. team mature in front of his eyes.

Hamels has a similar feel right now.  We’re watching him as he crosses that threshold from promising to dominant; from up-and-comer to established ace.  Keep an eye on this team as they approach the all-star break.  If they continue to struggle, but still manage to keep their collective heads above water and hang around in this race, odds are Cole Hamels will be a big part of it.