Cole Hamels Closes in on Career Milestone with 9 K Performance Versus Rockies

After dropping the first two of three in Colorado against the Rockies this week, the Chicago Cubs looked to salvage the series ahead of a four-game trip to Los Angeles to meet the Dodgers. Cole Hamels took the ball for the Cubs against Antonio Senzatela of the Rox.

Wednesday, June 13

Cubs 10, Rockies 1

W: Hamels (6-2)
L: Senzatela (5-5)

Hamels got into a bases loaded, one out jam in the opening inning but was able to induce a groundout by OF Ian Desmond and strike out INF Mark Reynolds, his second of nine in the game, to get out of the jam. Hamels went on to work seven scoreless innings on six hits with one walk and the aforementioned nine strikeouts. Hamels’ nine punchouts brought him to a career total of 2,498, bringing him within two strikeouts of 2,500 for his MLB tenure. The only active pitchers with more strikeouts than Hamels as of June 13 are CC Sabathia (3,033), Justin Verlander (2,816), Max Scherzer (2,575) and Félix Hernández (2,501). Hamels should be able to pass the 2,500 milestone during his next start in the Cubs’ upcoming homestand beginning on June 18.

The Cubs went on to win Wednesday’s matchup behind a barrage of runs, scoring five in the 2nd inning, followed by three in the 5th and two in the 8th. Hamels also went 2-3 at the plate, scoring one run on OF Kyle Schwarber’s three-run bomb in the bottom of the 2nd and driving in two more in the 5th with a single to score INF Javier Báez and OF Carlos González. The Northsiders also had a chance to secure their first-ever Coors Field shutout but it was spoiled in the 9th inning on a groundout by C Chris Iannetta scoring INF Tony Wolters.

Next up is the opener of a four-game set against the league-leading Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Veteran Jon Lester (5-4, 3.66 ERA) will face off against longtime Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw (5-1, 3.00 ERA) starting at 10:10 PM ET. Support the site by purchasing your tickets from SeatGeek!

 

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