Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels took a loss Thursday, giving up five earned runs on five hits and four walks in six innings while striking out seven in his team's 5-2 defeat against the Nationals.
Hamels (0-2) has had trouble with the long ball in the early portion of the season, and all five of the runs scored against him coming into Thursday's start had been on solo home runs. He surrendered two more solo home runs Thursday as well as an RBI single and a two-run double as the Nationals were able to score in four of the six innings he pitched.
"They're definitely adding up," Hamels said about the home runs after the game, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. "It's just knowing that I've got to be able to make the pitches early. I think when you're not able to get ahead in the count and you're forced to throw a strike, I have to at least make sure that those strikes are down in the zone, not up. And I think that's kind of what happened was, (I was) getting behind in the count and then leaving pitches up in a very hittable location. I just have to get the ball down I guess. That's the way it sums up."
Hamels owns a 5.00 ERA and 18:9 K:BB ratio in 18 innings across three starts. He'll look for his first win Wednesday against the Marlins.