Philly ace Hamels takes washout in stride
PHILADELPHIA -- Fortunately, Cole Hamels has a sense of humor.
He could have been the angriest man in the Phillies clubhouse Monday night. He wasn't.
He could have complained that the gods of baseball were treating him unfairly, or even that the lords of baseball were out to get him. He didn't.
"There's a lot to complain about," the Phillies left-hander said. "And a lot not to complain about."
Doesn't that just sum up one of the weirdest nights the World Series has ever seen?
The Phillies came to Citizens Bank Park with champagne on their mind. They expected to leave with champagne in their hair. Instead, they left scratching their heads, and also wondering when they'll get to complete this game that could bring them a championship.
Hamels came to the park ready to pitch his team to a championship. He left knowing that the only way he'll finish this game against the Rays is with two or three more days of rain.
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| Hamels: 'I would not pride myself on being a world champion with a called game.' (Getty Images) |
Mother Nature did win. Mother Nature, apparently, is the only mother, father, brother or son who could keep Hamels from winning a game this month.
He was 4-0 in the postseason, with three wins in series openers and another in the NLCS clincher against the Dodgers. He allowed the Rays just a run on three hits in the first five innings Monday, and when he took the mound for the sixth, the Phillies held a 2-1 lead and were 12 outs from a championship.
Hamels had thrown just 55 pitches to that point.
But at that point, it was raining harder than it had rained all night. The field was wetter than it had been all night. The mound was mud.
This was not baseball weather, and these were not baseball conditions.
