From the onset of Spring Training, and perhaps long before February, the 2014 season didn't come off as a "playoff" year. Instead, it was to be a season of the elder players making their way out while the young blood got their biggest opportunities. While the former part of that belief did not necessarily come to fruition, the latter sure has, with many new names contributing to the difficult season. Any opportunity the Phillies had to make a late rally came to end this evening when the Pittsburgh Pirates were victorious, eliminating Philadelphia from playoff contention. Still, Cole Hamels was due to pitch this evening in his hometown, and the team needed some momentum before the series finale.
The Game: Out of the gates, it actually seemed like Hamels' counterpart, Eric Stults, had the advantage. Through the first four innings, Stults surrendered just a leadoff single to Ben Revere in the first. Meanwhile, Hamels was solid, but had a rough second frame. The first four batters in that inning went, in order: single, strikeout, single, strikeout. Now, with two away, Cole allowed a walk to Stults, and had the bases loaded early on. Then, on the 28th pitch of the inning, Hamels forced Yangervis Solarte to fly out to Marlon Byrd in right field, and the early fire was extinguished.
From there, Hamels regained his dominance. Despite an RBI single by Cameron Maybin in the fourth inning, the Philly ace collected nine strikeouts over seven innings and lowered his season ERA. It wasn't until the fifth inning when Hamels finally got some support, and it was the first string of offense against Stults.
Darin Ruf, Domonic Brown, and Carlos Ruiz all singled to begin that fifth frame against Eric Stults. Batter number four, Freddy Galvis, recorded a single of his own, pushing both Ruf and Brown across the plate. After a visit to the mound and a Hamels sacrifice bunt, Ben Revere lined a ball down the line and behind the field tarp, resulting in a ground rule double and two more runs crossing the plate. It took Stults out of the game, but gave Philadelphia the 4-1 lead.
Ryne Sandberg's squad would add on a run in the sixth when Carlos Ruiz followed Darin Ruf's leadoff double with a sacrifice fly to right field. Jake Diekman pitched a scoreless eighth in relief of Hamels, setting up Ken Giles for the ninth. He'd retire the first two batters he faced, but a walk to Cameron Maybin and a defensive indifference play put a player in scoring position. Maybin would score on a single by Alexi Amerista, and move the score to 5-2. Giles would then strike out Seth Smith and handed the Phillies their first win of the series.
Notable Offensive Performances
Ben Revere: 2-for-5, 1 2B, 2 RBI
Freddy Galvis: 2-for-4, 1 R, 2 RBI
Darin Ruf: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 K
Up Next: The series finale commences at 9:00 PM eastern this evening, and Kyle Kendrick will get the ball on getaway day. With just over 13 innings pitched this season, Robbie Erlin will get the start for San Diego.
Andrew Gillen, Managing Editor of Philliedelphia.com
