Cole Hamels has struggled throughout the playoffs and it continued tonight’s outing against the Yankees.
You could hear his lack of confidence in his interview the day before the game. He’s very honest I don’t know that they can expect much out of him the rest of the series because I don’t think he believes he can do the job.
Once he experienced some trouble in the game, he couldn’t get his game back together.
Hamels started strong and the key was his control. He had it early and lost in an instant.
Last year’s World Series MVP was floating along for the first three innings. He was keeping the Yankees off balance with his fastball and change up.
He would occassionally throw his curveball but he couldn’t seem to throw that pitch for a strike.
All the trouble started in the fourth inning with the Phils holding a 3-0 lead. Jayson Werth had homered and Hamels had helped himself with a pefect sacrifice bunt that wound up being a hit.
Everything was going Hamels and Phils way up until the fourth inning.
The trouble started with a walk to Yankees first baseman Mark Teixiera. I thought Cole got robbed by the home plate umpire on a 3-2 fastball which looked like a strike.
In my opionion the ball was at the knees and it was on the inside corner. Teixiera should have been called out but he wasn’t.
He trotted to first and up stepped Alex Rodriguez, who hadn’t gotten a hit yet in the series.
Hamels last his control here. The Phils had been pitching A-Rod inside in much the same way they had thrown to Manny Rimerez in the Dodgers series. They didn’t want him to be able to extend his hands on his swing and exert his power in the series.
Hamels left a fastball out over the plate and Rodriguez hit a line drive to rightfield. At first look I thought the ball hit off the wall but on second look it hit off of a camera in the rightfield stands.
In the first huge reversal in Major League Baseball history, the umpires reversed the call and awarded Rodriguez a home run.
It was New York’s first hit and Cole never recovered. He did get through the fourth inning, but the fifth inning was another story.
Hamels did exactly what he said he didn’t need to do. He stopped believing in his stuff which were his fastball and his changeup.
He threw a curveball to Swisher Nick Swisher who led off the fifth inning with a double down the third base line.
After striking out Melky Cabrera on a changeup. Hamels decided to go back to his weakest pitch, the curveball.
Normally a guy like Hamels strikes out a hitter like Andy Petitte, who has only been to the plate a few times in years, with three consecutive fastballs..
Instead Hamels threw the hanging curveball to the Yankees pitcher. Petitte promptly singled it to centerfield to tie up the game at 3.
Derek Jeter followed that with a single and Johnny Damon then lined a double into the alley in rightfield and the Phils were now trailing 5-3.
Charlie Manuel tried to stay with Hamels but had to pull him once he walked Teixiera again.
It was a frustrating ball game for Hamels and Phils fans.
Afterwards the frustrated Hamels lamented, “I don’t know. Sometimes you can’t do anything right.”
