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Hamels gets ball for Phillies in St. Louis

Oct 4, 2011 - 2:49 PM (Sports Network) - Cole Hamels tries to get the Philadelphia Phillies back on track this evening when the National League Division Series shifts to St. Louis for Game 3 at Busch Stadium.

A World Series MVP for the Phillies in 2008, Hamels was 14-9 with a 2.79 ERA this season, but he allowed nine home runs in six September outings. Hamels, though, has been terrific in the playoffs for the Phillies, posting a 6-4 mark to go along with a 3.33 ERA in 12 postseason starts.

"Every time I go out, I try to win, no matter what the circumstance is," Hamels said. "I know I have a job to do, and I want to go out, and I want to have success. But at the same time, it's just the small things that really matter. You just have to go out and make it pitch after pitch, and just try to work on that and go from inning to inning."

Hamels lost his only start to the Cards this season, allowing four runs and seven hits in seven innings. He is 2-3 lifetime against them with a 3.27 ERA in nine starts.

"I think their lineup, they definitely know how to manufacture hit after hit after hit, and I think that's how they really get you going," Hamels said. "They don't just survive off the long ball, even though they're capable of doing that. They definitely know how to play small ball. I think it's just making good pitches, and we do have one of the top defenses, so [it's just a matter of] letting our guys field the ball, and making plays."

The Cards, meanwhile, will rely on left-hander Jaime Garcia, who was 13-7 with 3.56 ERA. This will be his first-ever postseason start, but Garcia is 2-1 with a 1.20 ERA in six career games against Philadelphia, with a microscopic 0.60 ERA in two starts against them this season, surrendering just one run in 15 innings.

"He has good command, and he uses all of his pitches, and he keeps his cool against us," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "He's really kept his composure and his cool, and he's made good pitches against us."

Garcia, who was 9-4 with a 2.55 ERA in 15 home starts, finished his season with a flourish, as he was 3-0 with a 2.64 ERA in five starts in September.

"It's the same baseball. To me, it's the same thing -- same preparation, same stuff I've got to do to go out there and worry about the things I've been worrying about the whole year," Garcia said. "One of the biggest things I've learned in this game is you've got to keep it as simple as possible as you can, so that's what I'm going to try to do tomorrow."

St. Louis evened this best-of-five series on Sunday, as Allen Craig tripled and scored the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, and the Cardinals used a strong bullpen effort to secure a 5-4 victory.

St. Louis starter Chris Carpenter, pitching on three days' rest for the first time in his career, lasted only three innings and allowed four runs. But six pitchers combined to hold Philadelphia to one hit the rest of the way, giving the Cardinals' offense a chance to erase the deficit.

They did, scoring all five runs against Phillies left-hander Cliff Lee, including three in the fourth inning.

"Any time you give a starting pitcher a four-run lead in the first two innings, he's in a pretty good spot and that's the situation I was in," Lee said. "I somehow squandered it away."

Craig, starting in place of the injured Matt Holliday, began the seventh with the triple to center and scored on Albert Pujols' base hit. Holliday is again doubtful for tonight's affair because of a finger injury.

Philadelphia rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win the series opener on Saturday and put itself in a good position to win Game 2. The Phillies loaded the bases with nobody out in the first inning, got three runs out of the situation and had Lee (0-1) on the mound.

But the left-hander, who entered Sunday's game with a 2.13 postseason ERA, couldn't hang on to the lead. He struck out nine and walked two in six-plus innings, but allowed 12 hits.

St. Louis won six of its nine meetings with the Phillies this season, including three of the five matchups in the Gateway City.