Cole Hamels, who left the locker room without comment after suffering his seventh loss of the season Monday night, probably could only shake his head as he watched last night's game.
Sparked by the return of Ryan Howard, the Phillies offense snapped out of its funk - at least for one night - and one night too late for the hard-luck Phils left-handed ace.
The Phillies erupted for 15 hits and seven runs one night after another impotent showing wasted a 10-strikeout performance from Hamels.
But don't overlook something else that happened last night. The Phillies got another solid effort from a minor league callup on the mound. First it was Jonathan Pettibone. Now it's Tyler Cloyd. Last night the young Cloyd went seven solid innings, giving up just two runs while scattering eight hits.
Ironically, both of these guys were struggling a bit at Lehigh Valley. But something happened to them on the ride down the Northeast Extension. With a chance at The Show, both are staking their claims that they are legitimate major league hurlers.
You can read Dennis Deitch's account of the action here.
In the meantime, Hamels no doubt was wondering what he has to do to get the kind of offensive support Cloyd enjoyed last night.
The wins moves the Phils just one game behind the sagging Washington Nationals for second place in the NL East. They still trail the Braves by five and a half games.
Given that Hamels is an eye-popping 1-7, and that they will be without Roy Halladay for three months if not the rest of the season, Pettibone and Cloyd might just be the best thing that has happened to this team so far this season.
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