He has now won three straight postseason games, the first Phillies pitcher in history to do that. On the list of accomplishments he hopes to add to his resume, this is just the first notable one. Look in his eyes, and you can tell he believes there are others to come.
"You know going out there in the big game, you want to be that guy that can dictate it," Hamels said. "I've had the opportunity this year, and I've been able to not only come through, but hopefully put us into more situations where I can do it again, and again, and again."
Down the road in Rancho Bernardo, near San Diego, young Cole Hamels wore a Dodgers hat to school because the Padres weren't very good and he played on a Little League team named the Dodgers.
"I grew up rooting for Mike Piazza and watching Orel Hershiser and Hideo Nomo and those guys," Hamels said. "I think I was more of a bandwagon fan."
He knocked more than 50,000 in Dodger Stadium off the bandwagon last night. The guys wearing the real blue hats that he faced were able to scratch out just four hits and no runs against him in the first five innings while the Phillies were building a 5-0 lead.
Hamels worked against no more than four batters in each of those innings. He did what he always does - he threw strikes and dared the hitters to guess if the pitches would be 90 m.p.h. fastballs or tantalizing, backbreaking change-ups. Most of the time, even if they guessed correctly, the location was good enough to get the batters out.
"They were trying everything they could. It just seemed like Cole was so in command, it didn't matter," said closer Brad Lidge. "He's a true ace."
Even when Manny Ramirez broke through in the sixth inning with a two-out, solo home run, Hamels was able to stop the damage right there, getting Russell Martin looking at a called third strike.
