Apter Hours: Phillies 4, Blue Jays 2...Hamels improves

Roy Halladay is a hard act to follow, but so far this spring, Cole Hamels has shown many signs of improvement. Today the Phillies beat the Blue Jays 4-2 in Grapefruit League action...now to the highlights

Pitching...Last year, Cole Hamels was known for getting frustrated after giving up a big hit and losing his cool. That has been quite the opposite this spring as he showed he can bounce back from giving up a big hit. Cole finished today's game with 3.2 innings logged. He gave up one run on a homer, walked two and struck out three. The impressive part of today's game was how he set down the first nine hitters faced before giving up a lead-off homer in the 4th frame. 32 of his 47 pitches were strikes. Ryan Vogelsong picked up the win...he went 2.1 innings and gave up a run on three hits. JC Ramirez got the save as he pitched scoreless ball for the final three innings of the game. He struck out three and surrendered two hits. Former Phillie top prospect, Kyle Drabek, got the nod for the Jays today and shut the Phils out through two innings. Jamie Moyer pitched three scoreless in the 'B' game today against the Jays to help his cause for the fifth spot in the rotation.

Hitting...Gonna run down the highlights here...Placido Polanco went 2-for-2 on the day, Greg Dobbs was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, minor leaguer Cody Ransom picked up his first spring homer in his only at bat. John Mayberry has been heating up...today he went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Also, utility man Wilson Valdez went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Not many prospects stood out today...Dom Brown got the day off and Tyson Gillies filled in for Victorino (0-for-4) in center field and went 0-for-1.

Box

Well...even though Cole gave up a lead-off homer to start the third, he retired his first nine and bounced back to get the next two outs after that. I would mark it down as an improvement start for Hamels and I hope he keeps working on mixing in his new pitches. Jamie Moyer is tabbed as the fifth starter and threw three scoreless today and will more than likely make his first Grapefruit League debut next week.

Up next...The Phillies play the Tigers at 1:05 on Thursday. Joe Blanton will get a chance to rebound after a rough first start. He will square off against Justin Verlander.

Notes...Brad Lidge has mentioned his control is getting better and better everyday and that he feels no pain in his knee. Lidge threw batting practice for the first time this spring on Wednesday.