Cole Hamels, Phillies shut out Braves

Sunday, April 10, 2011

ATLANTA - Cole Hamels combined with two relievers on a five-hitter and Shane Victorino capped a big series with three hits, including his first homer, to lead the Philadelphia Phillies past the Atlanta Braves 3-0 on Sunday.

Hamels (1-1) gave up four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in seven innings to beat Derek Lowe (1-2), who was almost as strong. The right-hander allowed seven hits and two runs in seven innings.

Victorino has five straight multihit games, including four hits in the Phillies' 10-2 win over the Braves on Saturday. He had nine hits as the Phillies took two of three in the series.

Hamels rebounded after giving up seven hits and six runs in 2 2-3 innings of a 7-1 home loss to the New York Mets on Tuesday. It was the shortest season-opening start of his career.

Ryan Madson pitched the eighth and Jose Contreras worked a perfect ninth for his second save.

Victorino singled and scored from third in the fourth when Jimmy Rollins hit into a double play. Victorino's homer into the right-field seats to lead off the sixth increased the lead to 2-0.

The Braves' only hit through five innings came with the help of questionable positioning by Phillies left fielder Raul Ibanez.

Nate McLouth hit a one-out double in the fourth over the head of Ibanez, who was playing unusually shallow. McLouth moved to third on Chipper Jones' fly to right but was stranded on Brian McCann's groundout to Hamels.

Freddie Freeman led off the sixth with a single but was stranded at second on Jones' grounder to end the inning.

Hamels began to tire in the seventh. Victorino raced to the warning track to catch McCann's flyball to open the inning. Singles by Jason Heyward and Alex Gonzalez gave Atlanta runners on first and third, but Freeman's grounder to Michael Martinez at second base ended the inning.

Rollins led off the ninth with a double off Craig Kimbrel and advanced to third when Heyward bobbled the ball for an error. Rollins scored on Ryan Howard's grounder to shortstop - Gonzalez considered throwing to the plate before taking the out at first base.

Carlos Ruiz, who had a homer and five RBIs on Saturday, had two hits for Philadelphia.

Lowe has a losing record despite his 1.45 ERA. He gave up only one run in six innings in a 1-0 loss at Milwaukee on Tuesday.

NOTES: Martinez made his first start at second base after one start in center field. He is the Phillies' third starter at second base, following Wilson Valdez and Pete Orr, with Chase Utley on the 15-day disabled list with a knee injury. ... Rollins, the No. 3 hitter, is batting .324 but hasn't driven in a run this season. ... Attendance was 43,796. ... Atlanta 2B Dan Uggla was 0 for 11 in the series, including a strikeout to end the game, and is hitting .158.