Phils Defeated by Brewers, Bush

Earlier this week, Phillies ace Cole Hamels held himself accountable for his poor start to the season, and indicated that he expected to be much improved in his Thursday start against Milwaukee. He was pretty accurate in his prediction. His command was superb, his velocity was excellent, and he was the dominant Cole who lead the WFC through the last postseason. Through three scoreless innings, Hamels had allowed a single, with no walks, and six strikeouts. He was primed for a memorable pitching performance.

Wednesday night, the Phillies belted the ball all over CBP. But those hard-hit balls just didn't find holes. On Thursday, their luck seemed due to change. Brewers starter David Bush had a FIP of 4.93 in 2008, with a pedestrian 5.3 K/9. With a .245 BABIP in 2008, Bush's luck also seemed due for a change, a change for the worse. A flyball, pitch-to-contact, hurler with a mid/high 80's MPH fastball at CBP? The Phils were ready for a stat-fattening feast.

One (of the many) reasons we love baseball: we just don't know what's going to happen. Hamels looked unbeatable, as he entered the top of the 4th inning. After he retired his eighth consecutive batter to start the inning, Hamels allowed a single to Corey Hart. Ryan Braun followed with a two-run homer. The next batter, Prince Fielder, blasted a line drive off of Hamels' trillion dollar left shoulder, ending the ace's day. In the span of three batters, the Phils trailed 2-0, with their injured starter out of the game. (Hamels has a bruise, but is not expected to miss a start.)

There's no question that David Bush's day was a bit more memorable than Hamels'. The question is "How did he do it?" His velocity was as mediocre as usual. He walked three batters, and hit two others. He also took a no-hitter into the eighth inning. The Phils did have a couple of deep balls to left field knocked down by the wind. But, most of the time, Bush just seemed to keep them off balance. Unlike Wednesday, the Phillies didn't have many hard-hit balls. They fouled off a lot of pitches, and they didn't make good contact with the pitches they hit into fair territory. It was an unlikely, but impressive, no-hit bid.

With one out in the eighth, Bush still hadn't given up a hit. You had to root for the guy. Philadelphia-area product pitching in front of his family, including his Phillies season ticket-holding parents. Down 6-0 in the eighth, the Phillies were all but done. Might as well root for history, right? (NO, NO, NO! That's Eaton. You root for your team until the game is over. Then you root for them in the next game. The Phillies came back from a .7% WE just last week. So, coming back from a .6% WE, while unlikely, is possible. And, yes, I just used "Eaton" as an expletive. None of the conventional profanities seemed powerful enough here.)

The no-hitter was finally broken up with one out in the eighth, when Phillies pinch-hitter Matt Stairs drove a solo home run, just inside the right field foul pole. Bush tried to keep the ball in the park with his bare hands, but had as much luck as San Diego Padres reliever Edwin Moreno did on Sunday, when Moreno allowed Raul Ibanez' walk-off homer. Stairs' homer increased the Phils' WE to 1.4%, but it never got higher. The loss dropped Philadelphia's record to 6-8.

The Phillies travel to Florida this weekend to take on the Marlins, who were expected to battle the NatInals for the NL East cellar. However, the Marlins are 11-4 on the season, with the highest winning percentage (.733) in MLB. Florida has Josh Johnson (7.00 K/BB, 2.45 FIP) scheduled to start on Friday, opposed by the Phillies' Brett Myers (3.00 K/BB, 6.95 FIP). Doesn't look like a promising matchup for the Phils, but anything could happen. That's why they play the games, and that's why we watch them.