Ben Francisco's Pinch Hit Homer Lifts Phillies over Cardinals in NLDS Game 3

Ben Francisco, pinch-hitting for starter Cole Hamels, came up big with a three-run shot off Jaime Garcia in the seventh inning to give the Philadelphia Phillies a 3-2 win Tuesday night over the St. Louis Cardinals for a 2-1 lead in their National League Division Series.

That was all the offense the Phillies needed behind Hamels, who earned his seventh postseason victory. He's no amateur. Reliever Ryan Madson entered in the eighth to get five outs and (barely) save Hamels' performance after going no more than one inning during his 32 regular season saves. He was pretty pumped about his outing:

"That was a lot of fun. I wish I was a lot better but I guess I was goof enough and that's all that matters."

Hamels was on fire after a rough September, striking out eight over six scoreless innings, with the only extra-base hits coming by way of two Albert Pujols doubles. You'll have that.

The NL Wild Card-winning Cardinals stranded 14 runners on base in front of a sell-out home crowd of 46,914, which is pretty disappointing considering how hard they worked to get to the playoffs in the first place. They attempted a comeback in the bottom of the seventh when David Freese nailed an RBI single off Hamels to put his team on the board before Yadier Molina added another run in the ninth off Madson with a base hit to center that scored Pujols, but it was too little-too late.

Heavily favored to win it all after a franchise-record 102-win season, the Phillies will attempt to finish off the Cardinals in Game 4 Wednesday night at 6:05pm ET on TBS. Roy Oswalt will get the ball again for Philadelphia against righty Edwin Jackson, who has faced the Phils just once in real life: a loss in which he gave up five runs on eight hits with two walks over five innings.

[Philadelphia Inquirer]

Cole Hamels: Welcome Back Jayson Werth

Jayson Werth's Beard was no match for Cole Hamels' left arm Tuesday.

In his first return to Philadelphia since leaving to play for the Washington Nationals, Werth went 0-for-3 with a walk in his team's 4-1 loss to the Phillies. Of course, he was met with boos from his former fans at Citizens Bank Park, but he turned their frowns upside-down when he took off his helmet and tipped it to the crowd: they simply could not resist his charm.

Besides, he's still making $126 million over seven years to bat .270. Nothing is going to bring that guy down.

Tonight's Badass NLCS Pitching Matchup

Tuesday night has yet another pitchers duel in store for baseball fans.

With the NLCS tied up at a game a-piece, Matt Cain will take the hill against Cole Hamels for Game 3 at 4:19pm ET this evening at AT&T Park, where a sell-out crowd will furiously wave their towels and sing their version of Don't Stop Believing in search of their first pennant since they cheered for Barry Bonds eight years ago.

Hamels' Badassery Knows No Bounds

Cole Hamels strutted his stuff in another dominant performance Thursday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, tossing a five-hit complete game shutout for a 3-0 victory.

Last year's World Series MVP, who is a lovely 4-0 with a 2.84 ERA over his last seven outings, needed just 97 pitches to finish the ass-whooping. He sent down 18 of his last 20 batters and let only two runners as far as second base, one of them on defensive indifference in the ninth... which barely even counts. Hamels struck out five and walked not a soul.

The 25-year-old Philadelphia Phillies lefty now has five complete games under his belt, three of which are shutouts. Yesterday's silencing of the Dodgers really says something about his talent, however, as they own the best record in baseball at 37-19. The Phils are right on their tails though, at 32-20.

Fun Fact from Elias: Hamels has not thrown a wild pitch in 344.2 innings. That's almost two years.

[Philadelphia Inquirer] | [The 700 Level] | [Philebrity] | [The Good Phight]

Thanks A Lot Cole Hamels

Philadelphia Phillies ace Cole Hamels, who I just traded for in my Fantasy Pros 911 Writers League (this was literally his first start on my roster) has sprained his ankle. So yeah. Thanks for that.

The lefty exited Tuesday night's game against the horrible Washington Nationals in the fifth inning after he appeared to have snagged his metal cleat while trying to field a John Lannan bunt.

This marks the second straight start in which the reigning World Series MVP left early, after a Prince Fielder line drive nailed his pitching shoulder during last Thursday's outing against the Milwaukee Brewers in the fourth inning.

Hamels, still winless on the season, left with a 5-0 lead after allowing four hits and striking out four in 4 1-3 innings. We'll keep you posted.

[NBC Sports] | [MLB Fanhouse] | [700 Level]

Get Well Soon Hamels

Bad news out of Clearwater, Florida today: Cole Hamels is scheduled to leave training camp this afternoon and fly home to have his left elbow examined by team physicians.

The Philadelphia Phillies star lefty and 2008 World Series MVP has experienced what the team is calling "persistent soreness in his elbow," but claim it's nothing to worry too much about.

Hamels, 25, went 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA in five postseason starts last October, making his first Grapefruit League start this past Wednesday. He pitched in an intra-squad game Sunday without reporting any pain or discomfort over the four innings of work. He describes the problem as a feeling of tightness in his elbow between innings and after he’s done pitching for the day.

Hamels actually avoided the disabled list for the first time in his 8-year career last season, so hopefully for Philly, it really is nothing.

[MLB] | [The Zo Zone] | [Balls, Sticks and Stuff]

Matt Stairs is Old School

Remember the Montreal Expos? Matt Stairs does. He started his career with them in 1992.

Stairs busted out some all-too-familiar Philly-style heroics Monday night during Game 4 of the NL Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. After Shane Victorino tied it up at 5 a-piece with a two-run bomb in the eighth off Cory Wade for his 11th RBI of the postseason, the beefy, 40-year-old pinch-hitter nailed a 3-1, 95 mph fastball served up by Jonathan Broxton to help the Phillies come from behind for the third time this series. Watch the video here and read Stairs' kinda lame quote here.

Let the Games Begin

Sorry I'm late to the post season party, but I am very happy to be here. My name is Das and I'm a Yankees fan. I thought it would be harder to follow the post season since I was in high school the last time they weren't in the playoffs, but October hasn't gone so well for them in a long time and especially since... well I think we all know. I'm backing the Cubs this October because I want to hear about someone else's curse being over.

A little recap of yesterday's games...

Phillies beat Brewers 3-1: Cole Hamels pitched 8 scoreless innings.

Dodgers defeat Cubs 7-2: James Loney hit a go ahead grand slam off of Ryan Dempster in the 5th.

Red Sox over Angels 4-1: Jason Bay's 2 run HR in 6th put the Red Sox ahead. Jon Lester pitched 7 innings.

Looks like being on the road didn't hurt.

Cole Hamels Becomes a Man

Congratulations are in order for Philadelphia Phillies ace Cole Hamels, who earned his first career shutout Thursday evening with a 5-0 blanking of the Atlanta Braves.

Lowering his ERA from 3.36 to 2.89, Hamels (5-3) was pumped to be able to finish the game. After 120 pitches, he surrendered just four hits, struck out six and walked two. Only two runners even reached second base as the lefty retired 15 in a row from the first to sixth innings.

Not only was he lights out on the hill, he also tied a career high with two hits, raising his batting average to .320. High five.

[Sports Network]

We Want to Pump You Up

This post is meant for nothing other to get you super fired up for baseball. Pitchers and Catchers reported to their camps this week, which means Spring is finally here. Even though it's -4 degrees where this girl is at, things are heating up in the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues.

So, just stare at this picture of Chipper Jones for a while, and imagine how awesome you'd have to be to smash a bat into slivers with one sweet swing.


Are you pumped?


How about now?

Yeah, us too. Okay, one more.



[Spring Training '08] | [Spring Training Online] | [Spring Training Mag]

Phuck Yeah

Cole Hamels -- the biggest stud in the NL East this weekend -- pitched lights out Friday night, striking out 13 batters with a filthy fastball and a nasty curve, over eight shutout innings to pull the Philadelphia Phillies into first place.

With a little offensive help from infield duo Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley, Ryan Howard's 45th homer and a fielder's choice from Hamels himself, the Phillies blanked the Washington Nationals, 6-0 and took control of the division.

The Phillies were seven games behind the New York Mets after losing to the Colorado Rockies on Sept. 12th, and hadn't been at the top once until they tied the Mets on Thursday night. While the Mets have done everything but win, the Phillies have taken 12 of 15 since then.

It's been fourteen long years, but it's not over yet. The Phils' magic number is two heading into the second game of the final three-game series of the season against the Nats at 2:30pm ET, with Adam Eaton on the hill. The pressure is on, now that the Mets beat the crap out of the Marlins at Shea Stadium this afternoon, 13-0.

[Newsday]

Sore Elbow Sidelines Hamels, Utley Back Soon

Now is really no time for injuries in Philly.

Philadelphia Phillies ace lefty Cole Hamels has a strained elbow and most likely will miss at least two starts, overshadowing the great news of All-Star second baseman Chase Utley's upcoming return from the DL.

Hamels (14-5, 3.50 ERA) will have an MRI exam and miss his scheduled start Wednesday against Los Angeles after having suffered persistent soreness in his pitching elbow.

The 23-year-old bombshell said he expected to miss at least two starts and land on the disabled list.

Considering Freddy Garcia, Adam Eaton and Jon Lieber are all out of commission, this comes as devastating news to a Phillies club with the hopes of catching New York in the NL-East standings.

They are five games behind the Mets and one ahead of the Atlanta Braves while trailing the San Diego Padres by just a game in the Wild Card chase. Unfortunately, their only remaining anchor in the rotation is 44-year-old lefty Jamie Moyer.

Now for the good news. Utley may rejoin the team sooner than later. Batting .336 with 17 homers and 82 RBIs, the stud middle-infielder took 50-60 hard practice swings before Tuesday's game for the first time since his right hand was struck by a pitch almost a month ago.

The youngster said he was going "stir crazy" watching the Phillies drop two of three against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

So, before he took his first practice cut, he jokingly asked manager Charlie Manuel to put him in the lineup.

"Yeah, he's in the lineup," Manuel chuckled. "He's hitting 10th."

[The Phanatic]

Extra P. & Co. Are At It Again

"Cole Hamels is clearly good for what ails the hardened, embittered City of Brotherly Love and Cheesesteaks."

Check out the Extrapolater's new edition of Voodoo Sabermetrics.

This week's victim subject? The Philadelphia Phillies' pitching pride and joy, Cole Hamels.

[Voodoo Sabermetrics]

Cole Hamels is Awesome

After the first pitch was delayed 92 minutes by rain, the fans in Philly were going absolutely bananas. They hung on every Cole Hamels pitch - especially the two-strike counts - as the lefty's bid for a perfect game ended in the seventh inning.

The 23-year-old Hamels (6-1, 3.30 ERA) retired his first 18 batters and used his baffling changeup to strike out eleven Milwaukee Brewers (25-15), leading the Philadelphia Phillies (20-20) to a 6-2 victory and out of the basement for the first time last night. Apparently, he can swing the bat, too. Hamels had two singles for his first career multi-hit game.

Jeff Suppan (5-4, 3.25 ERA) gave up nine hits and six runs - four earned - in seven innings. J.J. Hardy had the Brew Crew's first hit, his 13th homer of the year and Milwaukee's only digit on the board.

Aaron Rowand hit a three-run shot in the second for the Phillies while Jimmy Rollins, Pat Burrell and Abraham Nunez each drove in a run a piece.

[MLB]

Squeeze Play

vs.

Is there anything greater than baseball on a Sunday afternoon?

The Cleveland Indians (17-10) will put left-hander C.C. Sabathia on the mound this afternoon when they face converted reliever Brian Burres and the Baltimore Orioles (14-16) at 1:35pm ET in game three of the four-game set.

Hamels K's 15, Phillies Triple Play

Ladies and gentlemen, your new strike out leader, Cole Hamels.

Hamels enjoyed the best performance of his short career when he fanned a career-high fifteen batters in his first complete game Saturday night. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Phillies turned the first triple play in the big leagues this season - the first in nearly eight years for the club - in their 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

Hamels (2-0, 2.57 ERA) allowed five hits and walked two using 115 pitches. His previous career high for strikeouts was 12, which he managed twice last season. He leads Johan Santana by one strikeout for the major league lead, with 33 K's and is three ahead of Ted Lilly for the NL best.

With Josh Hamilton on second and Edwin Encarnacion on first in the fifth inning, David Ross grounded out to Phillies third baseman Abraham Núñez, who stepped on the bag to force Hamilton before throwing to second baseman Chase Utley to force Encarnacion for the second out.

Utley's relay to first baseman Wes Helms nailed Ross by a step, helping the Phillies hang onto a 2-1 lead. The Reds' catcher is batting only .105 this season after going 0-for-2 when his only well-hit ball of the evening went for three outs.

[SI.com]