Cole Hamels

rbon we (allegedly) snuck into the stadium made for a special evening of baseball.

Especially for Cole Hamels.

Early on, Hamels was nearly unhittable.  His mixture of change-up and fastball kept the Rays lineup on its heels.  That, combined with an early Chase Utley home run, gave the Rays a uphill climb from the start.  With Hamels and the Philly bullpen dealing, Upton, Pena, Longoria, Aybar and Navarro were a combined 0-for-18.  They all struck out at least once.  Upton was responsible for all five Rays runners left on base, which is misleading since he grounded into two double plays.  He apparently left his bat in Fenway Park.  The Rays can NOT win this series with their role players alone.  They must get some production from the meat of their order.  Otherwise, this could be a short series.

Continue reading "The Scene From Game One: Mohawks ..."

, as you will see it is with the big three is, can they find a third starter.  Brett Myers and Cole Hamels will be great but after those two the rotation looks like this, Kyle Kendrick (who you only know because he got pranked by Myers and the rest of the team a few weeks back, this was the funniest prank I have ever seen by the way), Jamie Moyer and Adam Eaton.  Their bullpen is solid, though they need Brad Lidge to come back and be half of what he once was.  If Kendrick can step his game up and Lidge can stay healthy and be effective this team should win the division.

Continue reading "First of a Seven Part Series-NL East Preview"