Cole Hamels is mad. It took him long enough.
Hamels, the left-handed ace who signed a $144 million dollar deal in the off-season, had maybe his best stuff of the season last night, striking out 10 Marlins in six innings.
Didn't matter. He still lost. That leaves his record a shabby 1-7. Hamels gave up just two earned runs while scattering seven hits. But with the Phils eyeing a rare scoring opportunity, he was lifted for a pinch-hitter after six innings, trailing 2-1. Of course the Phils failed to push that game-tying run across. In fact, they didn't score again.
The Phillies have now lost nine of the 10 games Hamels has started. Those 7 losses are one more than he had all last season. The last time he pitched with the lead was about six weeks ago. It goes on an on, kind of like the Phils' offensive ineptness.
After the game, a testy Hamels was in no mood to talk about the latest wasted effort. Instead he slammed a locker door, offered a curt 'Nope,' when asked for a comment, then strode out. You can check out Dennis Deitch's report here.
It's hard to blame him.
It's also hard to see anything changing on this team. Carlos Ruiz is now on the 15-day DL with a bad hamstring. Ryan Howard had a cortisone shot in an achy knee, and reliever Mike Adams also was DL'd.
Might be time for Charlie to circle the wagons.
Then again, the way the Phils hit these days, they might whiff on that request, too.
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