ATLANTA -- Ordinarily, Cole Hamels is unflappable. Whether he's striking out 15 Cincinnati Reds or giving up hits to the Washington Nationals, he's the picture of calm. Cool as a cucumber doesn't begin to describe him. Read some of the one-liners at colehamelsfacts.com, and you'll get the idea.But he came unhinged in the first inning here tonight, giving up three runs against the Braves. And, after he walked Kelly Johnson and Edgar Renteria to open the fifth inning, pitching coach Rich Dubee paid a visit to the mound.
"He asked me if I was on anything," Hamels said with a laugh. "I told him I wasn't. I just get that way sometimes with my adrenaline."
Dubee's attempt at humor worked. Hamels got out of the jam by throwing five straight fastballs to Chipper Jones, who grounded into a double play, and three of his signature changeups to strike out Andruw Jones. Hamels retired the next seven batters, taking him into the eighth inning.
Just wait until he hones his curveball.
Consider it another learning experience for Hamels, who figured out how to overcome a dismal start and protect the lead after the Phillies rallied in the second inning. And, after the game, he was cool as cucumber. Asked how he might change his approach to Chipper Jones, who belted two homers tonight, Hamels laughed and said, "I think I've got him right where I want him. He must be pretty confident against me."
That would be foolish.
2 comments:
excellent win for hamels. its good to be able to pitch that badly for so long and still come out without giving up too many runs. dare i say gritty veteran performance?!?! haha
oh, and gordon looked sharp tonight. 2 k's and a long fly ball out. like i said, he'll come around and be dominating. everyone is so quick to forget how good his april/may were last year.
It was refreshing to see Gordon work his way through a save with relative ease. He did look sharp last night and I'm willing to stick to my claim that it should be he, and not Myers, as the closer right now. It's very odd seeing Myers out there every night in the eighth, isn't it? We say this with a lot of bullpen arms, but I hope they don't overuse him, causing him to lose that mid-90's fastball that we rarely see from him when he's starting. A fresh Myers can be real dominant.
I thought Cole looked good too, Jamie. Chipper is just a smart hitter, and I don't think that those two pitches were all that bad. Nice to see Charlie start Werth against the lefty, nice to see Barajas hit two out of the park, (if you count McCann) and nice to see Jimy Williams make a cameo. Win tonight and it's another series win, and thats such a positive starting out a road trip.
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