Cole Hamels Gets Injured, and Bullpen Fails to Hold Sox as Phillies Can't Sweep Series
By: Mike Reisman
There is an old adage that claims that "you can't win 'em all" and that even the best teams lose sometimes. Today, the Phillies learned this the hard way, losing pitcher Cole Hamels early in the game. Hamels was hit in the heel of his hand in the 4th inning, and left the next after allowing just two hits. Though X-Rays were negative and Hamels injury probably won't force him to miss a start, he was lifted form the game, and after that, the ever-thinning Phillies bullpen came in, and it wasn't pretty.
After Hamels four strong innings, he was relieved by David Herndon, who gave up two RBI singles in the 5th, and a Jason Varitek home run in the 6th, giving the Red Sox a 3-0 lead. Drew Carpenter would relieve Herndon after two innings, also allowing a Varitek home run, which was preceeded by a Dustin Pedroia home run, giving the Red Sox back-to-back homers in the 8th.
The Phillies offense wouldn't be able to get anything going on offense, getting just two hits off of Sox starter John Lester in his seven innings of work. Lester was strong, striking out five batters and walking just two. However, in the 9th the Phillies would begin to score, getting two runs on a Ryan Howard home run. The Phillies would get the tying run on deck, but would lose 5-2 after Jonathan Papelbon came in to get the save.
Once again, the Phillies offense fell short once again, earning just a pitiful four hits. The only runs came from the bat of Ryan Howard, who continues to have a decent season, proving his worthiness of his contract extension. The Phillies averaged just 2.29 runs in their last seven games, a number that their rotation will only be able to bail them out of for so long. Though I don't exactly agree with trading for a bat, only because of the long-term harm it could do, something needs to be done to spark this lineup.
This game also really exposed the injuries to the Phillies bullpen, as the 'pen gave up all five runs through five innings, three of which came from the long ball. The even more revealing thing about this was that neither Michael Stutes nor Antonio Bastardo pitched, and without those two it seems that the Phillies bullpen is practically useless. Of course, this is a Red Sox team that is one the best, if not the best in the MLB. Still, the Phillies bullpen was put in a position to win, but immediately gave up two runs, which is not only demoralizing but also demotivating. Hopefully this is just a small setback, and the bullpen will bounce back, but look for it to be significantly weaker than before with these injuries.
The Phillies will start a series of all day games with the Blue Jays tomorrow at 1:07 in Toronto. Kyle Kendrick is scheduled to start versus Ricky Romero.