The Philadelphia Phillies survived another poor offensive showing, just a bit too late to reward Cole Hamels' command performance in blazing heat.
Placido Polanco homered leading off the 11th inning as the Phillies ended the St. Louis Cardinals' eight-game winning streak and averted a four-game sweep with a 2-0 victory on Thursday. It was 91 degrees with high humidity at game time and 93 by mid-game.
"We're a good team, we're not going to give up, we're going to keep playing," Polanco said. "It was one of those games, but at the same time you want to win.
"You don't want the game to be over to be over, you really want to win, because you've been here for so long."
The only hit in eight innings off Hamels was a solid single by Matt Holliday leading off the fourth. The lefty opened with five straight strikeouts and faced one batter above the minimum — none until the eighth — when he walked Yadier Molina on a 3-1 pitch with two outs and then struck out Brendan Ryan.
"Absolutely outstanding," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.
Getting nothing out of it didn't surprise Hamels. He has worked seven or more innings his last five starts with a 1.72 ERA but is 1-1 during that span.
"It's part of the game, you just go for it and you just try to pitch you possibly can," Hamels said. "If I can just plug away, things will happen."
Four relievers did not allow a hit over the final three innings to finish the one-hitter.
"We could be going home 0-8 real easy," Manuel said, frustrated by the lack of offense. "We have to do something about it. It's hard to explain."
ST. LOUIS, Mo. —
