Game 42 - Wednesday Night, May 18th in Philadelphia
One Sentence Summary: Cole Hamels pitched an outstanding ballgame as the offense did just enough to win the game, 2-1.
What It Means: The Phils broke their four-game losing streak with a stellar performance from Hamels. They're now 26-16 and no matter what the Marlins do tonight, they'll maintain sole possession of first place.
What Went Right: Hamels (5-2) pitched eight innings, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out eight. From the end of the second through the beginning of the seventh, Hamels set down 14 Rockies in a row. Ryan Madson allowed a few base runners in the ninth, but he ended up striking out the side and recording his seventh save.
The offense managed just five hits - two of which were from Wilson Valdez. Valdez knocked in the Phillies first run in the fifth with an RBI-single, and he scored the eventual winning run in the ninth when he came home on a Jimmy Rollins sacrifice fly. Valdez was only on third because of a Jorge de la Rosa wild pitch.
Featured Card: I've been slow to feature many Phillies cards from the Gypsy Queen set, so here's Hamels looking all retro-ish and pitching like its 1887.
Other Stuff: From David Hale's Phillied In blog - The Phillies recent four-game losing streak featured the first time the team had gone four straight games with five hits or fewer since May 26 through May 29, 1974.
I gotta say, those Gypsy Queen cards are really ugly; just brutal! I like retro stuff as much as the next guy, but this set just doesn't work for me.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. It's dull and lifeless, and I have absolutely no emotional connection to a set originally released in 1887.
ReplyDelete