Phillies Can't Score, Lose Father's Day Matinee
By: Mike Reisman
Today the Phillies looked to improve on their success in the month of June, a rare feat in the past couple of years, by doing something else rare: winning an interleague series. After dethroning King Felix last night, the Phillies sent the Cole Hamels to pitch against Jason Vargas who came into the game with an ERA of 4.13, a step down from what the Phillies had faced in the two games before. However, today would prove as the toughest game of the series for the offense.
Both pitchers were on their game, allowing a combined four hits through the first five, scoreless innings of the game. However, the Mariners finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the 6th with a Justin Smoak single, scoring Ichiro and giving the Mariners a 1-0 lead. They would add a run the next inning with an Adam Kennedy single, doubling their lead and ending Cole Hamels' night. The game would end 2-0 as the Phillies would be unable to find the scoreboard, getting just three hits and three runners into scoring position all night. The game would give Hamels his third loss, and Vargas his fifth win.
Today was a poor showing from the Phillies, only getting three hits the entire game. Though some of this can definitely be attributed to Vargas' pitching, the Phillies should have, and could have done better. However, this is nothing at all to be worried about, since the lineup has shown that it can produce, and the Phillies haven't exactly had an easy workload recently, playing seven games in the last six days, and flying across the country. Nobody should be close to worrying yet, even with the sub-par hitting this series. Bad games happen even to the best teams, and are just a small setback.
The only real problem with tonight's performance is that it wasted another good outing from Cole Hamels. Hamels went 6.1 very good innings, striking out six (including his 1000th career strikeout) and not allowing any walks. He gave up both runs and seven hits, however, he still looked very strong. Hamels' ERA is still an incredible, team leading 2.51, and at this point he still looks to be one of the best pitchers in the NL.
The Phillies get the day off tomorrow, then travel to St. Louis to take on one of the best hitting teams in the MLB, the Cardinals. Roy Halladay is scheduled to start the first game, which will begin at 8:15.