The dust had settled and air was calm. It was only 15 hours removed from an ugly brawl in the middle of the 6th inning yesterday but the Giants and Phillies were back to playing baseball.
Cole Hamels was as sharp as ever and Phils offense put up the only run it needed in the 1st inning to put themselves in a great position to sweep the Giants. Their 2-1 win Saturday afternoon in San Francisco expanded their winning streak to nine games, furthering themselves from the rest of baseball record-wise.
Hamels was electric, mowing down Giants batters left and right. He allowed only seven hits while striking out five. His complete game his second of the season. He was denied a shut out in the 9th inning when Pablo Sandoval homered with two outs to make it a 2-1 game.
Hunter Pence continued to contribute in a big way for the Phils offense, driving in the game’s first run. He singled to right field to score Jimmy Rollins, giving the Phils a 1-0 lead. Chase Utley got to third base on the hit, later scoring on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.
That was all the offense Hamels would need as he kept the Giants bats at bay.
San Francisco, who sports one of the worst hitting teams in baseball once again, is one of three teams with a winning record and negative run differential (Diamondbacks and Indians are the other two). The Phillies proved once again that the Giants, who has managed only three runs in the first three games of this series, is not going to repeat what they did last year.
The poor offense wasted an incredible start by Matt Cain. Cain pitched eight fantastic innings, shutting down the Phils after the first. He allowed two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out eight.
POLLY HURT — The Phils were hit with some not-so-great news. Placido Polanco left the game with some left hip soreness. The injury was not related to his back injury or last night’s incident.
2B: Pence (19).
WP: Hamels (13-6). LP: Cain (9-8).
TTB 