Cole rolls over Tide for Star of the Day

In his Triple-A debut, Cole Hamels showed why many people think he'll be in Philadelphia by year's end. He also showed what it takes to earn the MiLB.com Star of the Day.

The Phillies' top pitching prospect dominated Norfolk in his first start since being promoted from Class A Clearwater, ringing up a whopping 14 hitters in seven innings as the visiting Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons blanked Norfolk, 5-0, on Thursday afternoon.

The Barons' 22-year-old, 6-foot-3 lefty allowed just three hits and exhibited supreme control. He did not walk a batter and threw 66 of his 99 pitches for strikes, striking out the side in the second and sixth. The 2002 first-round pick fanned six straight between the first and third innings and five in a row during the sixth and seventh.

Hamels set a new team record for strikeouts by a left-hander and came within one of tying the Barons' all-time record of 15, set by Joel Bennett exactly seven years ago to the day (April 27, 1999). The previous high by a Barons lefty was 13, by Matt Beech, nearly exactly nine years prior (April 28, 1997) to Hamel's record-breaking performance.

The San Diego native has a career record of 13-4 with a 1.51 ERA and 251 strikeouts in 179 1/3 innings.

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