By Amy McGinnis

Phils dropped a game to the Marlins yesterday, but it wasn’t from lack of effort.  Cole Hamels, after his second loss this season, took responsibility for the Marlins’ score.  Rightfully so, I’d say, considering he blew a three run lead.  Hanley Ramirez homered off Hamels twice, tacking on three runs.  Interestingly enough, Cole’s other loss this season was to Miami, and it was at Citizens Bank Park.  He is now 8-2 with a 2.81 ERA.  He’s still a standout pitcher, not only in Philadelphia, but throughout MLB.

Although Ricky Nolasco recorded the win, our offense looked pretty good.  In the first inning, we saw Pence and Pierre in a double steal, and Pierre later scored.  Rollins knocked in Polanco in the second; Pence homered in the third and had another RBI in the eighth when he scored Rollins.  It seems that Pence has found his momentum, but in true 2012 fashion, the Phils (namely Wigginton and Rollins) stranded runners.  That, coupled with Ramirez being too much for Hamels, cost us the game.

To be honest, I have mixed feelings about the loss yesterday.  I’m so happy to see our lineup looking like a collaborative effort.  They seem more in sync with one another than they have thus far this season.  At the end of the day, they’re looking better to me.  I’d rather not see the “RISP and fewer than two outs” scenario get blown, but yesterday’s instances weren’t nearly as heinous as they’ve been this season.

On the other hand, it’s a little frustrating to see the Phils come up short in winnable games.  I agree (for once) with Charlie Manuel, who said, “We could’ve definitely won the game.”  Well, yeah, we could have, if Hamels hadn’t spoon fed pitches to Ramirez and our offense had brought runners home.  I can’t complain, though.  I’d much rather see good effort and lose 5-4 than see a dugout full of players who look as if they don’t care much.

A special thank you to Chris Leomporra, who took me to yesterday’s game.  Now that I think about it, if you’re looking for someone other than Hamels or Ramirez to blame for those three runs, Chris is your guy.  He left his seat exactly twice, and each time he returned to find out that Ramirez had homered.  In all seriousness, it was a very fun TSP kind of day at the ballpark, and if anything, I was able to get somewhere in the neighborhood of 7,000 pictures of Cole. I call that a win.

Tags: Amy McGinnis, Charlie Manuel, Cole Hamels, hanley ramirez, Hunter Pence, Phillies