Homers Plague Hamels; Carrasco Impressive In Tie
Cole Hamels struggled in a 7-7 tie with the Yankees. The pitcher, who has recently griped about a “slighting” in his 2008 pay, gave up home runs to Jason Giambi and Jason Lane in his two innings of work.
On the other side, though, No. 1 prospect Carlos Carrasco looked great in three innings. He struck out three (including Robinson Cano on a nasty curve) and everything else for the most part were ground balls. Movement is there on the fastball; while he loses control just a tad, he didn’t walk a batter.
But there were some problems. Fabio Castro got tagged for two runs. He was his usual erratic self, and when he was over the plate, Yankee hitters swatted his offerings out into the open. So far, he doesn’t resemble a viable option in the bullpen.
Lincoln Holdzkom couldn’t keep the Bombers off the board either, letting an error become a run via an RBI hit. I can’t endorse him strongly either.
Offensively, things got going when the Yanks took Andy Pettitte out of the game. First baseman Brennan King made up for a bad play in the first inning with an RBI through Alex Rodriguez’s glove.
Also, Greg Golson showed some of his fine tools, collecting an RBI, stealing a base and making a diving snare in center field.
What we got out of this game:
- Carlos Carrasco becomes a more exciting option by the outing.
- Greg Golson earned himself more playing time yet again.
- Cole Hamels should improve, but Jason Lane?
- There seems to be no great answer for LOOGY.
Today the Phils take on the Pirates yet again. Joe Savery gets another crack at it, while Josh Outman, JC Romero and Joe Bisenius finish it off. I’d like to see the $12MM man at work today, hoping he can hold up as setup man. For Bisenius, a good start puts him close to the lead in the bullpen race.
