Dodgers Diary :: Dodgers Seem To Be Favorites To Land Cole Hamels

Hamels turned in his second straight clunker Sunday afternoon, lasting only three innings in Philadelphia’s 8-7 victory over the Miami Marlins.

Chad Billingsley had his best outing in almost three years and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 3-1. He ended up giving up five runs and seven hits with two strikeouts and one walk in six innings.

He’ll get another opportunity in tonight’s inter-league game against the Tampa Bay Rays, according to interim manager Pete Mackanin. It would be Hamels’ last inning as right-hander Justin De Fratus replaced him to start the fourth. The Dodgers have the pitching depth, and I do expect them to deal a couple of their minor league arms for a starting pitcher in order to make a push down the stretch. A Hamels trade needed to have already been made by the Phillies, especially with how well he pitched on Sunday, July 19.

Hamels said Sunday that he is completely healthy, that the wreckage of his last two starts – he has given up 20 hits and 14 earned runs over 6 1/3 innings – is born of nothing more than a failure to get ahead of hitters and make good pitches when he’s down in the count. No team has more of a motivation to go get Cole Hamels than the Dodgers. Once he hit that home run, I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders. “It was unhealthy out there”, he said. Those factors have thrust his name into pre-trade-deadline chatter. In 2008, he was named World Series MVP of the franchise’s first championship since 1980. They’ve won the last 31 games the two relievers have pitched. It’s possible he has lost the motivation to pitch for a last place team that has been vocally trying to trade him for more than a year. “But in general, I’ll take that kind of an outing from him anytime”. “It looked like he came apart a little bit”.

Hamels said he didn’t give any thought about whether it would be his last start in Philadelphia. Specifically, they’ll write about Cole Hamels, who appears to be the most impactful starting pitcher on the trading block.

“I think my track record speaks for itself”, Hamels said.

Despite being touched up by a J.T. Realmuto home run in the ninth, Jonathan Papelbon finished up in the ninth, which he’s sure to point out in his next public trade demand. It was uncharacteristic of him to waste what could be considered an offensive outburst.

“Unfortunately that’s baseball”, Jennings said. “I’m happy to see it”. “It is what it is”. And despite a higher ERA, his FIP of 3.37 and his xFIP of 3.25 (which factors in the areas of pitching a pitcher can control) all indicate he’s been bitten by some bad luck.

Contact Meghan Montemurro at mmontemurro@delawareonline.com. In the annual session with baseball writers during the All-Star Game, commissioner Rob Manfred didn’t rule out the idea of expansion. Since June 6, Francoeur is hitting. Haren is coming off of an 8-1 victory against Cincinnati with the lone run scored on five hits over six frames. And while Miami is inept, too, the Phils have been playing with alertness and precision, including Saturday, when Galvis and Maikel Franco instinctively executed a 6-5 putout to cut down a runner. A non-roster invitee, the Phillies chose to put Francoeur on the roster despite a mediocre spring training performance and it’s been one of their best moves this season. However, things did not go as planned.