April 21 -- HELP FROM HAMELS

CINCINNATI -- Shortly after Cole Hamels (left) finished off his complete-game, 15-strikeout gem here tonight, I asked if he feels more responsibility to be the ace of the staff now that opening-day starter Brett Myers has been moved to the bullpen.

"I think all five [starters] feel that," Hamels said. "He was the ace of the staff. But we're able to understand what's going to occur. We know that Brett's going to be coming in after us, and that's going to be a big help."

Hamels certainly has been ace-like lately. After tossing seven scoreless inning April 4 against the Braves, he gave up two earned runs in six innings April 9 against the Mets. But tonight was his tour de force. He was in complete control, consistently getting ahead of hitters and using his fastball, devastating changeup and ever-improving curveball to overwhelm the Reds. Hamels struck out each Reds starter, except pitcher Eric Milton, at least once. He got Adam Dunn and Brandon Phillips three times apiece and Jeff Conine and Alex Gonzalez twice. In the eighth inning, with runners on the corners and two out, he fanned Dunn, always a big strikeout threat, to keep the score at 4-1.

Most impressive, though, is that Hamels threw a career-high 115 pitches and put away the game with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. After being plagued by injuries in the minors and coddled last year in his first major-league season, the Phillies have taken off the training wheels. Charlie Manuel said he would've let Hamels throw as many as 120 pitches tonight. And, clearly, Hamels is embracing his newfound freedom to pitch deep into games.

In Sunday's paper, you'll read comments from several Phillies, including Wes Helms and Chase Utley, about today's 80-minute team meeting. Here's Hamels' take: "Just with having a sit-down and being able to have guys discuss things, it's all out there now. All those bad thoughts are gone. Now, we can start from one and be a team."

That's all for tonight. More tomorrow, when Freddy Garcia goes to the mound, Ryan Howard most likely returns to the lineup and the Phillies try to win back-to-back games for the first time all season.