Hamels Tosses Eight Strong, Offense Crushes Volstad, Marlins

Posted by Danielle Wilson

Courtesy of AP Photo/ Wilfredo Lee

What a fun game this was. For Phillies fans that is, not Marlins fans (if there are any left). Cole Hamels, who came off of a short outing on June 30th due to a minor hand injury, pitched magnificently against Chris Volstad who exited early tonight in a horrible four-inning outing.

The Phillies' bats got to Volstad in the third inning tonight, scoring five runs to hop on an early lead. Raul Ibanez started it with a two-run single, which came after Ryan Howard was intentionally walked. Domonic Brown singled to score Howard, then Wilson Valdez singled to score two more runs.

Ryan Howard went yard (400+ feet) in the fourth inning to give the Phils a 7-0 lead. It was Howard's 18th of the season.  John Buck answered in the same inning with a two-run home run.

Howard delivered again in the sixth, sending Rollins home on an RBI single off of Jose Ceda. 8-2 Phillies.

Cole Hamels pitched eight strong innings, allowing two earned runs (Buck's homer) on eight hits, walking one and striking out five. He received his tenth win of the season.

In the ninth inning, Brown singled and Francisco doubled, followed by Jimmy Rollins' intentional walk. With the bases loaded, Michael Martinez tripled, sending everybody home, and giving the Phillies an 11-2 lead. Mini-Mart scored on Ryan Howard's double, which gave Ryan the National League lead in RBI. To top it off, Raul Ibanez launched a ball into the right field stands, giving the Phils a 14-2 lead.

Scott Mathieson loaded the bases in the ninth, but got Gaby Sanchez to pop-up with two outs to end the game.

Phillies tacked on 18 hits and 14 runs tonight. Rollins and Howard went 4-5, Ibanez and Howard both drove in four runs.

Likely series sweep tomorrow night with Kendrick on the mound.