The Cole Hamels show brings down the Cincinnati Reds, in a shut out (Part 1)
The Philadelphia Phillies have been on a stellar road to victory for the past few days and it comes at a time when the top clubs of the league face off in the playoffs. The National League is not unfamiliar to the antics of the
East title winners and it wasn’t a surprise to see the team rolling in on another win on Sunday over the trailing Cincinnati Reds at the Great American Ballpark. The encounter marked the 3rd time both teams met in the series and with the Central
ball club trailing 0 – 2 in the post season, the side looked to lose the bid for the World Series in front of their home supporters of 44,599.
Cincinnati Reds were on the hard track to repel the Phillies for a campaign save. But their efforts were met with failure at the end. Johnny Cueto was effective during the 2010 season and his 3.64 Earning Runs Average was a positive
outlook to go into the game with. However, the ball thrower faced a disappointing game and he walked off with 2 strikeouts in 83 pitches. He allowed 2 runs off 5 hits and this ended the Red’s bid for the title.
Cole Hamels was the reason Philadelphia was going to win the match, as many analysts had predicted and the 2008 Most Valuable Player was right there on the mound on Sunday to prove just that. The 26 year old was astonishing and
he accomplished that feat with a complete game shutout. His impressive form has been one of the reasons why Philadelphia presents a major threat to the New York Yankees if both teams manage to face off in the final. Hamels produced a scoreless display in 9
innings of pitching and this was something the fans were longing to see. If there’s any team as threatening as the Phillies, there would be no team to name. Cole pitched 9 innings straight and took a post season high, 9 strike outs. In addition to that, he
allowed just 5 hits in the game with no walks.
The match began with the Philadelphia Phillies taking over the batting duties in the top of the 1st. Johnny Cueto was up on the mound to face Shane Victorino on the plate and it didn’t take long for the first batsman
to go back to the dugout. Shane flied out to the right and killed his chance to do something early, in the game. Placido Polanco came on next and pulled a single to the centre. The batsman was through to the first and Chase Utley was on next. The strong hitter
was unable to do much as he also fell to Cueto’s sharp delivery. It was Ryan Howard who walked in following Chase’s exodus. He singled to the left and allowed Polanco to run 2 bases to the third.
With the scoring opportunity on hand, the Phillies sent in Jayson Werth. The hitter came on to make the most of the situation and he did well to produce the first run. He ran towards the first and while he did, shortstop, Orlando
Cabrera, made a detrimental throwing error. Placido was clear to run home during the confusion built up on the pitch.
The Phillies were successful in their bid for the first score and they made it to the target in the very first inning. The remainder of the match was quiet as Cueto kept the visitors silent and Hamels made short work of the Cincinnati
attack. It wasn’t till the top 5th that anytime went higher in the score line. Chase Utley was facing a lot of noise from the crowd and he did them a favour by smashing Cueto’s pitch for an enormous 394 feet homer to the right centre.
With the Reds down in the game, they crashed out of the post season, leaving just the Phillies to make it to the playoffs.
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