2012 Bowman Platinum #67 Cole Hamels

Phillies 3, Braves 0

Game 110 – Tuesday Night, August 7th in Philadelphia

Record - 50-60, 4th Place, 17 games behind the Nationals

One Sentence Summary:  Ace Cole Hamels pitched his fifth career shutout, blanking the Braves, 3-0.

What It Means:  The season is a bust, but games like this make me happy.

What Went Right:  Hamels needed 111 pitches to complete his latest masterpiece, his first win since signing his massive contract extension a few weeks ago.  He struck out six and allowed just five Braves hits.  Ryan Howard provided most of the offense, with a two-run home run in the first.  Domonic Brown knocked in the other run, doubling home Jimmy Rollins, who had himself doubled to start the ballgame.  Brown also had a nice outfield assist in the fifth, throwing out Brian McCann at second on the Phillie Killer’s attempt to stretch a single.

Featured Card:  If the Bowman Platinum set is released in the woods, and no one hears it, does it make a sound?  I was recently perusing the items that came up on eBay when searching for "2012 Phillies Set," and I was slightly surprised to see the Bowman Platinum Phillies team set appear.  (I had no idea this set was being released again this year.)  Being the obsessive collector I am, I clicked Buy It Now and the set arrived in the mail a few days later.  This set does nothing for me.  It's shiny, but there's no new ground being broken here.  Yet into the 2012 Phillies binder it goes.