Phillies' bats making statement with another win over Nationals

WASHINGTON - So, this is what 2-0 looks like . . .

For all the accomplishments this Phillies team has piled up over the past three seasons, the one thing it hasn't been able to figure out is the first couple weeks of the season. If the 19 runs the Phillies have scored against the Nationals in the first two games are any indication, that appears to be changing.

The Tuesday off day did little to slow down the Phils' bats, as the top half of the lineup scored seven runs in an 8-4 victory that pushed their record to 2-0 for the first time since 2003.

"We want 19 a game," said manager Charlie Manuel, who has watched his team lose its first two games en route to a 4-6 start in each of the last two seasons. "Even then, I probably wouldn't be satisfied."

The major pregame plot line was the debut of lefthander Cole Hamels, who struggled last season with both his command and composure. But by the end of the night, the offense once again had stolen the show. Hamels battled with his command throughout his five innings, walking four batters in a game for just the fourth time since his rookie season. But he limited the damage to three runs, which was more than suitable for an offense that saw Placido Polanco score three runs, Jimmy Rollins walk twice for the second straight game, and Ryan Howard hit his second home run.

Through two games, the top four hitters in the lineup have combined to go 15-for-34 with 12 runs scored, 13 RBI and eight walks.

Polanco, who went 3-for-5 with six RBI in an 11-1 win on Opening Day, went 2-for-4 with a double. Chase Utley went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Rollins went 1-for-3, and drew a pair of walks in back-to-back games for just the fourth time in his career.

But it was the performance of Howard, a notoriously slow starter, that epitomized this fast offensive start. The slugging first baseman never has hit more than five home runs or driven in more than 15 RBI in the first month of the season. Two games into 2010, he has two home runs and five RBI.

"It's fun being a pitcher on this team," said Ryan Madson, who recorded the last out of the eighth inning and three outs in the ninth for his first save of the season.

While Hamels didn't look like the pitcher who allowed one run in 15 innings in his combined 2007 and 2008 debuts, his performance was a marked improvement over 2009. Last year, after a hectic offseason that led to a sluggish spring training, Hamels found himself lacking his usual arm strength. In his debut, he allowed seven runs in 3 2/3 innings against the Rockies while topping out in the high-80s on the radar gun.

So the key numbers from his performance were not the three runs that he allowed or the four walks that he issued or the home run that rookie shortstop Ian Desomnd cracked over the centerfield fence. Instead, they were the 103 pitches he threw, and the velocity readings that sat at 90 and 91, topping out at 92. Last year, Hamels did not reach 100 pitches in a game until May 14 , his sixth start of the season.

"I feel strong, and I feel healthy, and that's the key - you just kind of have to build it from there," said Hamels, who went 10-11 with a 4.32 ERA during the 2009 regular season and struggled mightily in the playoffs.

Now, he'll focus on finding his command. Of the 103 pitches Hamels threw, only 63 were strikes. Twenty-three of the 51 fastballs he threw were called balls. After allowing a solo homer to Desmond with two outs in the third inning, he issued back-to-back walks to Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn, which eventually led to another run.

Perhaps the most interesting facet of his performance was his use of his cutter, a pitch that he began throwing in earnest only this offseason. An unofficial tally had Hamels throwing 13 cutters, 11 for strikes. Desmond made solid contact on a cutter in the fourth inning for an RBI double, but it appeared to be the lone hiccup. Hamels recorded three outs on the pitch, including a groundout in the third inning that shattered the bat of Mike Morse.

Hamels threw his curveball, a pitch the Phillies do not want him to abandon, five times. None of them went for a strike.

Hamels wasn't the only young lefty to make his season debut. Rookie Antonio Bastardo, the bullpen's sole lefty, jammed lefthanded-hitting Nyjer Morgan on a 94-mph inside fastball with a runner on second in the eighth inning for a big pop out. Veteran righthander Danys Baez allowed a run on two hits while recording just one out, but the rest of the relievers pitched well, none better than Madson, who is filling in at closer with Brad Lidge on the disabled list.

It will take much longer than two games for the Phillies to get comfortable with their pitching. The offense is certainly helping the cause.