Hamels on the hill

Today’s Lineup
Rollins, SS; Victorino, RF; Utley, 2B; Howard, 3B; Burrell, LF; Helms, 3B, Rowand, CF; Barajas, C; Hamels, p.

Strikeouts
Cole Hamels is coming off a 15-strikeout performance at Cincinnati.  He joined Curt Schilling, Steve Carlton and Art Mahaffey as the only Phillies pitchers with 15 or more punch outs.

Back-to-back totals for those involved:  Carlton (15-12, June 1981); Schilling (16-10, Sept. 1997); Schilling (15-10, July 1997); Schilling (15-10, April 1998); Carlton (16-6, June 1982) and Mahaffey (17-3, April 1961).

Doubles
Chase Utley leads the majors with 13.  According to Elias Sports Bureau, that’s the most for any player in April since expansion took place in 1969.  Hall of Fame outfielder Chuck Klein holds the Phillies record with 59 doubles in 1930.  He had four in April (12 games).

Call to Arms
Over the last eight games (6-2 record), Phillies starters have a 3.14 ERA; the bullpen, 1.88 ERA. With Jon Lieber in the rotation and Brett Myers in the bullpen, the pitching staff has stabilized.

J-Roll
Phillies record for most home runs in April is 11 by Mike Schmidt in 1976 (14 games).  Rollins is carrying eight into this afternoon’s game.  There are four more April games after today.

Interesting Quote
From the Daily Herald near Chicago: “The answer is there’s no reason to panic.”  It came from Cubs’ manager Lou Piniella.