First inningAfter stretching and seemingly trying to expel some of his nervous energy in the dugout while his team was batting, Cole Hamels finally made his Major League debut and quickly fell behind his first hitter, Ryan Freel, 2-0. But Hamels came back with a bunch of fastballs to make it 2-2 before throwing his trademarked changeup to get Freel to ground out to shortstop.
He battled with Felipe Lopez for eight pitches after falling behind 1-0 to get his first Major League strikeout, and then whiffed Ken Griffey Jr. on three straight pitches, including a 0-2 changeup that froze Griffey.
Griffey's expression when home-plate umpire Jim Reynolds rung him up looked as if he was saying, "What the hell was that?!"
Strike three, Griff.
0 hits, 16 pitches -- 12 strikes
Second inning The first time I saw Hamels pitch? How about his debut in Reading on July 6, 2005.
Austin Kearns hits the first pitch to Pat Burrell in left for the first out. It seems as if maybe the Reds are looking for the first fastball they can handle to avoid falling behind the Kid...
So of course hard-hitting Adam Dunn walks on four pitches. Hamels walked just one hitter in 23 innings and three starts. Dunn took off on the first pitch when he was sure Hamels wasn't going to pay attention to him at first. Dunn swiped the bag, but catcher Carlos Ruiz showed off the canon he has for a right arm.
Gets Edwin Encarnacion to ground a 2-2 changeup to short for the second out. Dunn moves up to third. Then he walks Brandon Phillips on four pitches -- that's twice as many walks in one inning than in three starts in Triple-A. Clearly the kid must be a bit nervous.
Hamels walks Javier Valentin on a 3-2 changeup, which sends Rich Dubee charging out of the dugout. Ryan Howard joins the party at the mound and says something that maks Hamels smile. That moment of levity must have worked because Hamels whiffed Easy Ramirez on three straight pitches. Then again, Easy's front foot was halfway to the first-base dugout before the pitch was even delivered.
0 hits, 3 walks, 40 pitches -- 22 strikes.
Third inning Hamels looks like he can swing the bat. Has a very athletic swing despite the three-pitch whiff in his first at-bat. He kind of hits like Steve Carlton, though he appears to be more athletic. The same thing goes for his delivery, except for his kick and where he transfers the ball from his glove to his pitching hand.
One pitch and one out in the second as Freel gounds to Utley at second. He then gets Lopez to pop to Bobby Abreu to right on the second pitch of the inning. Expect Griffey to look at a few in his AB...
How about that? Griffey walks on four pitches. Finally, he gets Austin Kearns to pop to short on a 2-1 pitch.
0 hits, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts, 51 pitches -- 26 strikes.
Fourth inning I still remember the day when Easy Ramirez was called up from Single-A Clearwater to joing the Phillies during the 2004 season. That game was the first big-league game he had ever seen and he spent it in the bullpen. At the time I wrote that Ramirez would have been the team's top pitching prospect if not for all the hype surrounding Hamels and Gavin Floyd.
Ramirez was and is a strike-throwing machine. He doesn't walk too many hitters and usually has a low pitch count. Easy is the perfect nickname for him, too, since he is very affable and laidback. He thought it was really funny when I tried to speak Spanish to him.
Here's the story from that day.
Nonetheless, Ryan Howard gives Hamels some runs with a long homer to left-center to make it 2-0.
Dunn smacks a 3-1 pitch just short of the warning track in left field. Perhaps Hamels is settling in the second time through the order?
So how about a five-pitch walk to Encarnacion? There you go. One thing is for sure -- Hamels works fast and when he misses it's usually high with the fastball. Next, he whiffs Phillips on a 2-2 breaking pitch.
Finally, Hamels gets Valentin on a 2-2 change on the sixth pitch. He seems to have settled in.
0 hits, 5 walks, 5 strikeouts, 74 pitches -- 38 strikes.
Fifth inning I wonder what cards were drawn for the press-box no-hitter pool?
Hamels whiffs Ramirez for his third strikeout in a row. He then gets ahead of Freel 0-2 before getting him to ground to Howard at first on a 2-2 pitch.
He misses badly on a few pitches to Lopez before he loops a 3-1 shot into center that Shane Victorino dives for but nabs on a short hop. That's the first hit vs. Hamels.
Griffey quickly falls behind 0-2 before Hamels gets him on a 1-2 change.
1 hit, 5 walks, 7 strikeouts, 92 pitches -- 51 strikes.
Sixth inning This very well could be Hamels' last inning since his pitch count is so high and the fact that he has only six starts above Single-A. He also has never pitched a complete season as a pro, so it might be difficult to depend much on him in late August and September -- I foresee the Phillies having to shut him down the way the Cubs did with Kerry Wood when they were making a run in 1998.
He's not going to get the chance to work in the sixth because Charlie Manuel has decided to try and cash in for some runs with two out and the bases loaded in the top of the sixth. Abraham Nunez is called upon to pinch hit.
But when Nunez whiffs to end the frame, Manuel and the Phillies turn to the bullpen for the rest of the way... and with that, Hamels' debut comes to an end.
Hamels' final line: 5 IP, 1 H, 0, R, 5 BB, 7 K, 92 pitches -- 51 strikes