The Cole Hamels who took the mound last night in Atlanta is the guy Phillies fans were expecting to see in April.
It took the Phils' lefthander a while, but Hamels cranked up a gem last night in helping the Phillies beat the first-place Braves and allow manager Charlie Manuel to enjoy his 1,000th career victory.
Fans can only dream about what this season might have been like had Hamels come out of the box this way when the team headed north from Clearwater.
Instead, with a combination of bad pitching and bad luck, Hamels' funk extended for months as he compiled a weird 2-9 start.
Last night Hamels looked every bit the ace in going the distance and baffling the front-running Braves. He struck out nine and lost his shutout bid with two outs in the 9th inning on a bloop double by Chris Johnon that fell just inside the right-field foul line.
In the process of improving his mark to 5-13, Hamels lowered his ERA to 3.65. Sine July 1, he is throwing at a 1.98 clip.
Just for good measure last night he tossed in a triple that led to the Phils' first run.
All of which would be cause for celebration if this team were not so bad.
But Hamels' efforts are a reminder of what could have been, and that he is one of the centerpieces around which this team will be rebuilt.
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