Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Posted: 10:05 p.m.Updated: 11:54 p.m.
By Jim Salisbury
CSNPhilly.com
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Weve seen this before. We just didnt think wed see it in his first start of the season, with all the hype and great expectations surrounding him andthis pitching staff.
Cole Hamels fell victim to a familiar old bugaboo Tuesday nightthe one-bad-inning syndrome.
I just wasnt able to minimize the damage, Hamels said after the game, a 7-1 loss to the New York Mets on a wintery night at Citizens Bank Park.
Hamels was referring to the fateful third inning in which he gave up six singles, two walks and six runs. If the No. 1 job of a starting pitcher is to keep his team in the ballgame, Hamels failed in his first trip to the mound in 2011. The fans reminded him of that. Yes, he left the field to a smattering of boos in the third inning.
Its frustrating, the 27-year-old left-hander said. You dont want games like this, especially starting off the season.
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I felt like I was really strong. Unfortunately, being strong for 2 23 innings is not enough.
The loss was the Phillies first of the new season, dropping them to 3-1. The Mets are also 3-1.
Losing to the Mets is nothing new for Hamels. He was 0-4 in four starts against them last season, but actually pitched well. He had a 3.20 ERA in those games, but was on the mound in three of the five shutouts that the Mets hung on the Phillies. Tuesday nights loss ran Hamels career record against the Mets to 2-9 with a 4.36 ERA in 14 starts.
They have a lot of right-handed hitters and they match up well against Hamels, Phils manager Charlie Manuel said. I hear people talk about how many games the Mets are going to lose, but they have a good lineup. They have some speed and some power. They got 13 hits tonight. Theyre more than a second division team. Were going to have to beat them.
The Phils have two more chances to do that in this series. The Phils led the majors with 97 wins last season and the Mets finished four games under .500 and 18 games off the pace in the National League East. But the Mets made life difficult on the Phillies. The two teams split the season series with nine wins apiece.
Hamels had some high standards to follow in his first start of the season. Rotation mates Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt combined for 23 strikeouts and just one walk in the first three gamesall wins.
The Phillies' braintrust purposely put Hamels fourth in the rotation because it wanted to limit pressure on the youngest member of the staffnot that he hadnt responded to pressure in the past. Remember October 2008?
Hamels opened with two strong innings. He pitched out of trouble in the first and sailed through the second. He opened the third by allowing a single to left by opposing pitcher Chris Young. Leadoff man Jose Reyes then dropped down a bunt. Hamels had a chance to make a play on the ball but double-clutched, allowing Reyes to reach on a single. A walk and two-run single by David Wright got the Mets on the board. A passed ball, a walk and three more singles gave the Mets a 6-0 lead. Young had two hits in the inning, becoming the first Mets pitcher to ever do that.
After the bunt (by Reyes) I had to throw strikes and I wasnt able to do that, Hamels said. I was behind in counts and you cant do that. My fastball was just taking off on me in the third and I wasnt able to finish it. Fastball command more than anything was the problem.
In 2009 and early last season, Hamels would occasionally be hurt by one bad inning. Things would start to go bad and in response hed try to do too muchthrow too hard, be too perfectand that would exacerbate the problem. Manuel indicated thats what he saw in this game.
In the third inning he got in a hole and couldnt get out of it, Manuel said. He was trying real hard to get out of the inning and he started going real fast. At times he has that problem.
Hamels was far from the only thing that went wrong for the Phils. They had just seven hits and only one was for extra bases. They were 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position, left nine men on base and struck out nine times. Leadoff man Shane Victorino and cleanup man Ryan Howard were a combined 0 for 9 with six strikeouts. Howard struck out with a runner on second to end the first inning and grounded to second with the bases full to end the fifth.
Those were the chances the Phils made good on in the first three games of the season.
Things were different in Game 4. But thats baseball.
These kinds of things happen, said Hamels, referring to his work. Ill take what I can from it and get ready for my next start. Im glad I can get out there again in five days.
E-mail Jim Salisbury at jsalisbury@comcastsportsnet.com
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