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Hamels baffles Cubs; Howard homers as Phillies roll

Apr 13, 2008 - 6:20 AM PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Chicago Cubs were hit with the second half of the Philadelphia Phillies' 1-2 punch on Saturday.

Cole Hamels allowed only one hit in seven scoreless innings and Pedro Feliz and Ryan Howard each hit two-run home runs as the Phillies posted a 7-1 victory over the Cubs.

The 24-year-old lefthander walked two and struck out five batters, throwing 72 of 111 pitches for strikes. It was the second straight solid outing by a Philadelphia pitcher as Brett Myers held the Cubs to three runs in eight innings in the Phillies' 5-3 win on Friday.

Hamels (2-1) has gotten off to a terrific start, lowering his ERA to 0.82.

"We got 1A and 1B and that's the way we feel about it," said Hamels, referring to himself and Myers. "With the way that Brett goes out, I'm used to seeing him dominate and put in a good quality start. I just want to answer that."

Hamels retired 10 of the first 11 batters before surrendering a one-out double to Derrek Lee in the fourth inning.

"I gave up a lot of hard hits, but they were hitting balls right at guys," Hamels said. "I credit this to the tremendous defense that we have. With the offense that (the Cubs) have, you have to be on top of your game."

Hamels departed in favor of Ryan Madson in the eighth, and Soriano broke up the shutout with a RBI single to right. Taguchi and Werth then capped the scoring with RBI doubles in the eighth inning.

"We didn't do much hitting and didn't do much pitching," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said.

Feliz gave Hamels all the support he would need in the second by blasting a two-run homer off Cubs starter Ted Lilly (0-2) to left-center field after Pat Burrell drew a walk.

Philadelphia scored three more times in the fifth inning, which was highlighted by Howard's third home run of the season.

With runners on second and third and one out, Lilly uncorked a wild pitch to score a run. Howard then hit a 3-2 offering that just cleared the right-center field wall for a two-run homer.

"Cole made it pretty easy for us today," Howard said. "It helps make our jobs easier. With Cole going out there and pitching the way he did tonight and Brett pitching the way he did yesterday, that's what we need. We'll be scoring a lot of runs this year."

Howard's homer spelled the end of the night for Lilly, who was relieved by Kevin Hart. Lilly allowed five runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings, with three strikeouts and two walks.

"I'm giving up a lot of hits and leaving balls out over the plate," Lilly said. "That's the No. 1 issue I have going on right now."

Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins missed his fourth straight game due to a lingering ankle injury, and Philadelphia suffered another blow to its starting lineup when center fielder Shane Victorino was forced to leave the game in the seventh due to a right calf strain.