Hamels Wins Sixth In A Row

The Phillies aren’t the greatest during inter league play.  Heck, the National League has always been looked at as the inferior league.  The Red Sox came into town in sort of the same boat as the Phillies.  They are a team with a lot of talent that has seen injuries plague the early start of this season.

Anyways, we have Cole Hamels.  Hamels won his sixth game in a row.  This is the first time in his career he has done that.  The Phillies put him out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning and although the Red Sox battled back, Jonathan Papelbon saved his 12th game in as many chances for a 6-4 Phillies win.

Ace in the bucket – There is no need to tell Cole what he is pitching for this season.  Hamels is a free agent when this season is over and he is showing the Phillies front office why they should keep him around.  The lefty struck out nine batters in seven innings.  He gave up three earned runs, which included two solo home runs.

Patience is a virtue – Three out of the first four hitters for the Phillies drew walks in the first inning.  They would eventually go on to score four runs in the inning with only gathering one hit.  The Phillies drew six walks in the game.  Jimmy Rollins now has six walks in his last five games.  Before that he only had seven all season.

Choochtastic – Carlos Ruiz went 2-for-3 tonight and continues to ‘impress’ everyone.  Ruiz has always been known as the catcher behind Hamels, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee.  This season he is showing off his bat in the first 40 games of the season.  Chooch has 14 hits and 10 RBIs in his last eight games and leads all catchers in batting average, hits and home runs.

Launching pad – There were five home runs hit in tonight’s game.  I won’t even touch on the Boston bombs but Freddy Galvis and Hunter Pence took Red Sox pitching deep.  It was Glavis’ second homer of the season and Pence’s 5th inning shot put him in double digits for the season.

Keep it going – The Phillies won their sixth game in a row and have now won eight of their last nine since being swept by the Mets.  Like I said, Papelbon saved his 12th game of the season against his former team.  The Phillies will send Joe Blanton to the hill tomorrow to take on Jon Lester.