Phils’ Hamels was a bulldog when it counted

ST. LOUIS - Like the spinning numbers on a slot machine, the pitch count for Cole Hamels was adding up quickly in Tuesday's Game 3 of the National League division series at Busch Stadium.

More important from the Phillies' perspective, the Cardinals' hit count and run count wasn't.

Hamels job was to prevent the Phillies from facing a Wednesday elimination game in a postseason that's supposed to fill up most of the days in October. The 27-year-old lefthander did his job well, if not efficiently. He held the Cardinals without a run over six innings in the Phillies' 3-2 white-knuckle win that gave them a two-game-to-one lead in the best-of-five series. Albert Pujols and Ryan Theriot were the only Cardinals who laid a glove on him, combining for all five hits he allowed.

While raising his postseason record to 7-4, Hamels had set up his paralyzing changeup with a lively fastball, as his eight strikeouts indicate. Keenly cognizant of the nine home runs he allowed in six September starts, he kept the ball down around the Cardinals' knees for most of his 117 pitches, even if it meant walking three and running deep counts several times.

"I was just trying to make good pitches and keep them down and if I missed I knew I'd get another opportunity," he said. "That's where I was. If you make mistakes up in the zone, you're usually going to pay for it pretty badly. If you keep it down you have a better chance to get out of the inning."

Mostly, though, Hamels won this game with a characteristic that, quite unfairly, is usually not associated with him - grittiness. There's a bulldog inside this Golden Retriever. You could almost see it bearing its teeth each time the Cardinals got him in trouble. Five faced Hamels with runners in scoring position and none were able to get the ball out of the infield. The Hamels who at times became unsettled when things didn't go his way no longer exists. "He keeps his cool whether some people realize it or not," manager Charlie Manuel said. "And he's gutty, and he's been gutty ever since I've known him. I've always liked him because of his mental toughness, even when I saw him at Lakewood. I like him out there in any situation."