Game 130 - Sunday Afternoon, August 29th in San Diego
Cole Hamels continued his dominating season, and this time the Phillies scored some runs for him, as the Wild Card leaders won this afternoon in San Diego. The win completed a 3-game sweep of the team with the best record in the NL, following the Astros' 4-game sweep of the Phillies. (The game's easy, Harry.) Hamels won his 9th game of the year, allowing just 4 hits while striking out 6. In his 10 starts since July 11th, Hamels is 2-3 with an extremely impressive 2.20 ERA. If the Phils had just scored a few more runs for him in those games, he'd easily have 5 or 6 more wins than he does now.
The Padres' defense aided the Phils in their win today, coughing up 4 errors. Jimmy Rollins started the scoring in the 3rd, driving home Carlos Ruiz with a single to right. Mike Sweeney added a 2-run homer in the 7th, his first as a Phillie, to pad the lead. Jayson Werth provided further insurance with a solo shot in the 9th, his 18th.
The Braves and Giants both won their games today, so the standings remain static. The Phils are 2 games in back of the Braves in the NL East and a game and a half ahead of the Giants in the Wild Card standings as they head into a 3-game set in L.A.
Ready?: Had the Phillies lost today, this post would have featured a Randy Ready baseball card. My wife Jenna recently pointed out that Ready was currently serving as the Padres' hitting coach and she took great pleasure in the fact that I did not know this. Frankly, I'm a little surprised at myself for not knowing this. Ready had two stints with the Phils - the first from 1989 until 1991, when he was acquired from the Padres with John Kruk for Chris James, and the second from 1994 until 1995, when he was brought in to be a "veteran presence" for a team decimated by injuries to its aging roster. He's been the Padres' hitting coach since July 2009, replacing the fired Jim Lefebvre. And now you (and I) know what Jenna already knew.
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