Phillies-Brewers 5 things: Cole Hamels' last home start here?

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Phillies (27-51) vs. Brewers (30-48)
7:05 p.m. on CSN

The Brewers took Game 1 of the battle to the bottom, beating the Phillies 7-4 Monday night in a game that almost seemed anticlimactic after the organization's busy afternoon.

In case you missed it, the Phils on Monday introduced new team president Andy MacPhail, detailed a plan to better incorporate analytics, offered some clarity on the search for a manager and explained Ruben Amaro Jr.'s role leading up to the trade deadline. The whole afternoon at the media room in the basement of Citizens Bank Park pretty much served as an unveiling of owner John Middleton, too.

On the field, the Phillies continue to struggle their way toward the No. 1 pick in next June's draft. The Brewers have the majors' second-worst record, but after Monday's win they're three games better than the Phillies.

But the Phils do their have ace on the mound Tuesday. Let's get set for Game 2:

Hamels' turn
Following a forgettable outing at Yankee Stadium in his return from a one-start absence, Cole Hamels looks to get back on track this evening.

Hamels (5-6, 3.26) had an ugly line last week that belied his actual performance. Hamels allowed five runs on eight hits, three walks and a hit batsman over five innings. But so many of the hits were soft. Two of the doubles he allowed were routine plays that should have been made. One was a pop-up to shortstop that Freddy Galvis lost in the sun. Another was a ground ball down the third-base line that Andres Blanco missed and let hit the bag before deflecting into the outfield. Blanco also made a poor throw home on a force play with the bases loaded that resulted in two runs, both earned, rather than an out.

Really, Hamels could have had one of his typical seven-inning, two-run performances against the Yankees. He was plagued by poor defense and, again, no run support.

Hamels has pitched 99⅓ innings this season, third-most in the NL among pitchers with 15 or fewer starts to fellow NL East headliners Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom.

Obviously, any start Hamels makes at this point will attract attention from fans, analysts and scouts of other teams. July is just one day away and the trade deadline is just four weeks away. Hamels is the single biggest name available on the market, and his stock will only improve if he can avoid any lulls in performance.

Based on the schedule, tonight could be the second-to-last start Hamels makes at Citizens Bank Park as a Phillie. The only remaining home game before July 31 that he would be scheduled to start is right after the All-Star break.

A lot of these current Brewers have hit Hamels well. Ryan Braun is 10 for 31 (.323) with a double, three homers and five RBIs. Jonathan Lucroy is 6 for 13 with a double, homer and two walks. Adam Lind is 3 for 8 with a longball. Aramis Ramirez is just 6 for 25 (.240) against Hamels but has a triple and two homers.

All told, active Brewers have hit .325 with a .924 OPS against Hamels. Though he is 5-1 with a 3.00 ERA in his last six starts against the Brew Crew.

Support the man
Hamels has a 2.30 ERA in seven home starts this season. He's allowed seven homers at CBP but just 12 earned runs in 47 innings. His opponents' batting average at home is .188. And he's 2-2.

Why? Because in those seven home starts, the Phillies have scored a total of seven runs for him. Pathetic.

There was that one game against the Nationals in D.C. back on May 23 when the Phils blasted Stephen Strasburg and won 8-1 behind Hamels. But in his other 14 starts, the Phillies have scored 19 runs combined with Hamels in the game. That's 1.36 per game.

But this is nothing new. We've been talking about the Phils' ridiculous lack of support for Hamels since 2009.

Hamels and Aaron Harang have been the two least supported starting pitchers in the National League, receiving 2.45 and 2.58 runs of support per nine innings, respectively.

Jungmann's game
The Phillies had never faced Jimmy Nelson before Monday, and tonight they face another Brewers starter they've never seen, rookie right-hander Taylor Jungmann.

Jungmann, 25, is 2-1 with a 2.74 ERA in four starts this season. In three of them, he's allowed two runs or fewer. In his last start, he pitched five shutout frames with five strikeouts against the Mets.

The sample size with Jungmann is obviously limited, but in the four starts this season he's thrown his four-seam fastball 53 percent of the time, his two-seamer 22 percent, his curveball 21 percent and his changeup just three percent.

His heater averages 93 mph and his curveball is in the high-70s.

Jungmann's delivery seems tough to pick up. He's a tall, lanky right-hander who explodes toward the plate with some motion in his follow-through. Looks like the type of pitcher whose fastball appears harder to the hitter than the radar gun indicates.

Brewers love the Bank
There are a couple of Brewers who just rake at Citizens Bank Park.

In 23 career games at CBP, Braun has hit .418 with five doubles, a triple, 10 homers and 25 RBIs in just 104 plate appearances. He has one fewer home run in Philadelphia than he has in Pittsburgh, where he's played 32 more games.

Then there's the catcher, Lucroy, who has hit .462 with a 1.435 OPS in 10 games at Citizens Bank Park. In just 43 plate appearances, Lucroy has four doubles, a triple, four homers and 10 RBIs.

This and that
• Milwaukee is 6-1 in its last seven games in South Philly.

• Maikel Franco went 0 for 4 Monday, but he was robbed of extra bases on a 409-foot flyout.

• The Phillies are on pace for a 56-106 record, and that doesn't factor in expected trades of the top players on the roster.

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