Game 21 - Tuesday Night, April 23rd in Philadelphia
Record - 9-12, 4th Place, 6 1/2 games behind the Braves
One Sentence Summary: Cole Hamels pitched a fantastic ballgame, but the offense took another night off as the Pirates shut out the Phillies, 2-0.
What It Means: It looks as if Hamels is this season's version of last year's Cliff Lee. Hamels is 0-3 this season and he has a 2.57 ERA in his last three starts. In those last three starts, the offense has provided him with just four runs. Lee didn't earn his first win last year until July 4th.
What Went Wrong: Nothing against Pirates starter Jeff Locke, but he's not exactly Cy Young. Locke allowed two hits in his six innings of work while striking out six. The team's best chance to score came in the fourth when John Mayberry, Jr. led off with a triple. A few batters later, he was out by fifty feet at home as he tried to score on a hard hit ground ball to third. It was all downhill from there.
Featured Card: I can tie this Hamels card from 2008 into this game summary post in a few ways.
1. Rest assured, my Topps Phillies project hasn't gone dormant again. I left off with a post on the 2007 Topps Phillies cards earlier this month and the only headway I've made with a 2008 Topps Phillies post is to flip through my 2008 Phillies binder. I'll get there eventually.
2. The Philadelphia Inquirer's Matt Gelb tweeted last night that the paid attendance of 31,002 was the smallest crowd since April 3, 2008. It was cold and drizzly last night and I'd put the actual attendance at about 60 to 70% of that number. I'm not ready to call this the end of the team's golden era (glass half full), but it sure makes me long for the happier times from 2008 to 2011 when the game seemed easier.
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