The Philadelphia Phillies (40-45) will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates (52-31) in the rubber match of a three-game battler for the hearts of Pennsylvania at 1:35 p.m. The game can be live streamed here; Phillies fans can listen to the game on 1210 WPHT, while Pirates fans can tune in to KDKA-FM 93.7.
This battle could be called the "Cole" war, as the Phillies trot out Cole Hamels (2-11, 4.58 ERA), against hotshot Pirates rookie Gerrit Cole (4-0, 3.70 ERA). Hamels, who has ace-like stuff, and ace credentials from previous seasons, has had a rough go of things in 2013.
In the last month, Hamels 0-2 with four starts under his belt, with a 4.68 ERA and 1.36 WHIP in that span. The sudden slide is puzzling; Hamels has never had an ERA above 3.06 in the previous three seasons, nor did he have a WHIP over 1.18. In the three elite seasons before 2013, he won 44 games and lost just 26.
On the other hand, Gerrit Cole has gotten off to an undefeated start to his MLB career, using his vaunted velocity and tricky stuff to induce mass groundouts.
Cole, though, modestly gives much of the credit to his teammates for hitting well and playing top-notch defense behind him. It's really a team effort," Cole said. "I've pitched pretty well but I've gotten a lot of support defensively and our offense has been very opportunistic. It feels good to say I'm 4-0, but it feels even better because the team is playing well."
Thanks to surprisingly good pitching from players like Cole, the Pirates own the best record in the big leagues. Fellow starter Jeff Locke urges baseball fans to start buying into the Bucs.
"I'll tell you what -- there's something special going on here," Locke said. "All the guys pull for each other every night. We're not out of a game, ever."
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