Pitching some more

Last night, I fell asleep thinking that Cole Hamels, who had thrown 49 pitches through five innings, had a shot at a complete game.

I woke up this morning to learn he needed another 48 pitches to complete the 3-0 shutout over the Dodgers. He gave up five hits with no walks and five strikeouts. He faced only 29 batters.

Orlando Hudson said it best: "He stuck it up our (rear ends) the last two times we faced him. What more can you say?"

Actually, he hasn't had a bad start ever against the Dodgers. In four regular season starts (two each this year and last), Hamels is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA, 0.83 WHIP and 8.67 strikeouts per nine innings against the Dodgers. And that doesn't count the two wins he had in last year's NLCS (three earned runs over 14 innings).

Sometimes a brief crude comment sums it up nicely.

Other pitching notes: Amalie Benjamin must have read yesterday's post about our teams' improving rotation. She quoted Josh Beckett in her game story pegged on that theme: "We still owe the bullpen some innings, so we've got to get our starters to go deeper." Benjamin detailed how well the starters have been doing recently.

Tonight, Brad Penny looked like he was continuing that trend with four scoreless innings, until the Rangers put up a four-spot in the 5th. The Sox are now down 5-1 in the 8th. Trade Penny's (rear end) out of here. Buster Olney reports that may be a possibility with both the Braves and Phillies showing interest. Todd Zolecki reports there may be truth to that Jason Donald rumor, but says the Phils have no interest in reliving the Vicente Padilla era.

See you tomorrow - hopefully with tales of an epic comeback in Fenway and another late-night win for the Phillies.