It was the biggest start of Cole Hamels' life, Game 1 of the World Series, and it was played in an atmosphere that would leave most young pitchers jelly-legged from nerves.
Hamels didn't blink. In his latest of what is becoming a series of postseason gems, Hamels yielded two runs on five hits in seven innings Wednesday night, carrying the Phillies to a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays and a 1-0 lead in the 104th World Series.
"Cole is pretty good, man," manager Charlie Manuel said. "I'm glad he pitches for us."
Hamels, a 24-year-old left-hander, has been better than good in this postseason.
He has been nearly perfect.
In four playoff starts, Hamels is 4-0 with a 1.55 ERA. In comparison to former Phillies greats, Steve Carlton was 3-0 with a 2.31 ERA in the 1980 playoffs, while Curt Schilling was 1-1 with a 2.59 ERA in the 1993 postseason.
"I played with (Roger) Clemens and (Andy) Pettitte and (Roy) Oswalt in Houston, and they're such huge-game pitchers," closer Brad Lidge said. "Cole is confident and collected. He's right there in their league. He's got one of the best changeups I've ever seen. Everybody talks about (Mets ace) Johan Santana's changeup. Cole's is just as good.
"I don't know what makes Cole tick, but the situation does not rattle him. You can put all the pressure in the world on him; he'll come through."
Faced with the clanging cowbells and boisterous crowd at Tropicana Field, Hamels allowed a solo home run to Carl Crawford in the fourth inning and an RBI double by Akinori Iwamura in the fifth. In his only serious jam, he got B.J. Upton to ground into a bases-loaded double play to end the third.
"Being on somebody else's home turf, I think you have to take a step back, no matter how loud it gets, and just focus on that next pitch," Hamels said.
PHILLIES 3, RAYS 2: Chase Utley hit a two-run home run in the first inning to propel the Phillies in Game 1 of the World Series at Tropicana Field. The Phillies won despite going 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranding 11 runners. Cole Hamels allowed two runs in seven solid innings before Ryan Madson pitched a scoreless eighth and closer Brad Lidge threw a spotless ninth to improve to 47-for-47 in save opportunities. Utley, Jayson Werth, Shane Victorino and Pedro Feliz had two hits apiece for the Phillies, who became only the sixth road team in the past 21 World Series to win Game 1. Of the previous five, three went on to win the Series.
