PHILLIES NEWS

With their record at only 4-11 the Phils desperately needed some kind of spark t oget them going and today they go it from Cole Hamels. Hamels went the distance against the Reds striking out 15, one shy of the franchise record for strikeouts by a lefty in a single game, held by you know who, and allowed just one run, on 5 hits. Meanwhile, the phils offense continued to struggle as well, but it managed to scratch out just enough runs for a victory, as Chase Utely homered and knocked in 3 runs, and Aaron Rowand homered in the 8th inning to put the Reds away for good for 4-1 win. In fact, as a symbol of the Red's futility against Hamels the Reds managed to put two on with nobody out and David Ross at the plate in the bottom of the 5th inning, with the Phils clinging to a 2-1 lead. With the way the Phils have been playing so far this season, you just knew something bad was about to happen, instead with one swing of the bat Ross got the Phils out of trouble hitting a ground ball that allowed the phils to turn their first triple play since 1999 , and they did it around the horn, with Abraham Nunez fielding the ball tagging third base, and throwing to Chase Utley at second who tagged the base and fired to Wes Helms at first, beating Ross by a step. Now, although Ryan Howard probably won't be back in the lineup until at least Monday, it seems as if the Phils at 5-11 are ready to get on a roll, and they can if they can just get some more pitching performances like the one they got from Hamels today.