Hamels is far from star turn of last season

A year ago, it would have been incomprehensible to think that Cole Hamels could give away a 3-0 lead.

He was that good in becoming MVP of the National League Championship Series and World Series.

Hamels is a different pitcher now.

He's lost his ability to command his third pitch.

He's lost his aura.

Andy Pettitte still has his.

Pettitte survived a shaky start and won his record 17th postseason game in helping the New York Yankees beat the Phillies, 8-5, in Game 3 of the World Series at unusually quiet Citizens Bank Park last night.

The Yankees, who led the majors with 103 wins, are feeling pretty good about themselves. They lead the series two games to one with their ace, CC Sabathia, on the mound against Joe Blanton in Game 4 tonight.

The Phils have beaten Sabathia twice in the postseason, once this year, once last.

But they've never faced him while trailing in a series.

It's pressure time for the defending World Series champs.

Here's a closer look at Game 3:

Hamels went 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA in five starts last postseason. He averaged seven innings per start. This postseason, he has a 7.58 ERA in four starts and has averaged five innings. Right before our eyes, one of the best young pitchers in the game has become a five-inning pitcher.

What gives? There's not enough space to adequately cover all of Hamels' problems this season. In a nutshell, there have been health issues, fatigue issues, location issues, power issues (scouts say his fastball doesn't have the same life it did last season), and mental issues (Hamels has said that he's put pressure on himself to live up to expectations).

One of the major problems Hamels has encountered is his inability to add an effective third pitch to his mostly fastball-change-up repertoire. The curveball is his third pitch, but he's struggled to throw it effectively and therefore backs off from using it. Hamels said on Friday that he would try to learn a cutter or slider next spring training to give him another pitch.

In the meantime, he is basically a two-pitch pitcher, and two-pitch pitchers - unless their stuff is electric, which Hamels' hasn't been - usually have trouble getting through a lineup multiple times in a game.

That's what happened to Hamels last night. He threw just one curveball in whittling his way through the Yanks' lineup in the first three innings with fastballs and change-ups. He showed his curveball once in the fourth inning - before the Yanks got a two-run homer from Alex Rodriguez to cut the Phils' lead to 3-2.

By the fifth inning, Hamels was trying to get through the Yanks' lineup for a second and third time and he started throwing more curveballs. Ineffective ones. He threw two to the first hitter, Nick Swisher, in running the count to 2-2. Swisher then hit a curveball for a double. With one out, Hamels threw his counterpart, Pettitte, a first-pitch, hanging curveball, and Pettitte dropped it in for a game-tying RBI single.

Hamels went back to his fastball for the top of the order. Derek Jeter singled and Johnny Damon doubled home two. Hamels then threw a bunch of soft stuff in walking Mark Teixeira and was gone.

There's a name for a two-pitch pitcher: reliever. Hamels needs to deepen his repertoire. Last night was the latest example why.

There's a World Series waiting for you. The Phils' cleanup man is 2 for 13 with nine strikeouts in three games.

Hamels got off to a promising start in the first inning.

Using only his fastball and curveball, he retired Jeter, Damon and Teixeira on 13 pitches. (That's right where Phillies pitchers want to be, considering that the organization's minor-league pitching coaches teach their pupils to strive to get through an inning in 14 pitches or less.)

Hamels opened the game with a change-up for a strike against Jeter, before getting the Yanks' leadoff man to bounce back to the mound. Damon then grounded to shortstop.

Hamels got a swinging strike on a first-pitch change-up to Teixeira. That set up an interesting early moment. Would Hamels double-up with his best pitch, go with his fastball, or take an early chance that he'd have an effective curveball?

The lefthander reached back and threw a 92-m.p.h. fastball by Teixeira, who swung from his heels. Hamels came back with two more fastballs, a ball and a called strike on the outside black to put away Teixeira.

Jayson Werth led off the bottom of the second and worked a full count against Pettitte, who went to his slider - a pitch with which he had excellent early success. Ah, but that success came against lefthanders. The righthanded-hitting Werth got a good look at the slider as it broke toward him, and he clouted it into the left-field seats for a 1-0 lead.

Pettitte went back to his slider to strike out lefthanded-hitting Raul Ibanez before Pedro Feliz belted a fastball to right-center for a double.

Pettitte then hit a wild streak, sandwiching two walks around a perfect bunt by Hamels. The second walk, to Rollins, plated a run. Pettitte then allowed a sacrifice fly to Shane Victorino before striking out Utley on, you guessed it, a slider, with two men on. The strikeout of Utley turned out to be a nice piece of damage control for Pettitte.

Pettitte struck out seven in six innings. Six of them came against lefthanded hitters Utley (2), Howard (2), and Ibanez (2).

Rodriguez smacked a two-run homer off Hamels, cutting the Phils' lead to 3-2, in the top of the fourth.

The ball hit off a television camera just above the right-field wall and was initially ruled a double before the umpires used instant replay for the first time in a World Series game and ruled it a home run.

The events leading up to the homer were interesting.

Trying to put Teixeira away on a 1-2 pitch, Hamels went to his curveball for just the second time in the game and missed up. He then threw two fastballs and walked Teixeira. It isn't the home runs that will bite you in Citizens Bank Park, it's the walks before them. Rodriguez followed the walk with his home run. He hit an 0-1 fastball over the heart of the plate. With Hamels throwing just two pitches - fastball, change-up - A-Rod probably had an idea he'd be seeing a fastball after Hamels got him to swing at a change-up on the first pitch.

After Rodriguez stroked the ball to right, pitching coach Rich Dubee visited Hamels at the mound. Dubee may have unwittingly given the Yankees' bench time to start shouting for a replay before Hamels was able to throw his next pitch.

Pettitte showed excellent poise after allowing a leadoff single to Jimmy Rollins in the first inning. Rollins tried to drive Pettitte crazy on the bases. The lefthander threw to first twice before Rollins swiped second with Utley at the plate. Pettitte continued to pay close attention to Rollins on second. Though Rollins diverted Pettitte's attention, he did not stop the pitcher from doing his job. He struck out Utley and Howard with a hefty dosage of sliders to get out of trouble.