Posted by Danielle Wilson
Cole Hamels took the mound for the Phillies tonight in the place of his birth, which explains why he's so comfortable pitching and hitting there, I suppose.
In the third inning, Cole singled but was somehow picked off while trying to steal. Victorino and Polanco both drew walks, and advanced on a wild pitch on Padres' starter Clayton Richard. Ryan Howard proceeded to almost kill a baseball, but it bounced off of the fence in right-center, sending Shane and Polly home, and Ryan to third. I guess it would have been easier to just say 2-run triple, but details are fun!
Cali Cole pitched extraordinarily well throughout the entire game, pitching three 1-2-3 innings (non-consecutive) and tossing mainly his 4-seam fastball which clocked between 90 and 95 miles per hour. His command was perfect, which explains the eight shutout innings. After 126 pitches (one pitch away from his career high), he was done. His line: Eight IP, four hits, three walks, eight strikeouts. He also singled twice.
Since Jose Contreras supposedly had the night off, Ryan Madson came in to seal the deal with a 2-0 lead in the ninth. He pitched a lovely 1-2-3 inning striking out one.
So, the Phillies get away with a 2-0 win (fifth shutout of the year) thanks to some more above-average pitching by a starter, and hopefully they'll continue this lucky streak tomorrow when Joe Blanton takes the mound against Tim Stauffer at 8:35.
