Working with his regular catcher for the first time this season, Cole Hamels fought off control issues to win his first game of the season as the Phillies beat the New York Mets 5-1 on Sunday.
Hamels, who struck out eight in six innings, fell behind early against the Mets, who took the lead early in the first when David Wright singled home Ruben Tejada, continuing his career success against Hamels. The RBI was Wright's 19th of the season and 11th career off of the left-hander.
After that, the Mets were held mostly in check, although Hamels would keep it interesting throught. Eight men reached base against Hamels, though only two were hits. His six walks kept him from having a single clean inning aside from the second. He was pulled after six innings, having thrown 111 pitches, 62 for strikes.
Despite the baserunners, Hamels managed to stymie the Mets long enough for the offense to catch up. The Phillies' hitters managed just a handful of hits off of Mets starter Jonathan Niese until Freddy Galvis sent a fifth-inning pitch from Niese into the left field seats to tie the score at 1.
Philadelphia really broke out in the 7th, when Ryan Howard was sent to pinch-hit for Kevin Frandsen, who had gotten the start at first. Howard doubled off of Scott Atchison to drive in a pair, and Chase Utley singled him in to give the Phillies a 4-1 lead they would not surrender.
Receiving another insurance run coutesy of a John Mayberry Jr. RBI double, the trio of Antonio Bastardo, Mike Adams and Jonathan Papelbon held New Yord to just one hit over the last 3 innings for the win. The Mets notched just 3 hits total against Phillies pitchers.
The Phillies (12-14) take Monday off before heading to Cleveland to face Zach McAllister and the Indians. Philadelphia will counter with Roy Halladay, fresh off of an impressive start against the Pirates allowing one run in six innings, striking out 8.
The Mets (10-13) head to Miami to face the Marlins Monday. They will be hoping that Matt Harvey will be able to end their current four-game losing streak. Miami sends young Jose Fernandez to the mound following two straight clunkers after posting strong outings in his first two starts.
