It was business as usual for Cole Hamels Tuesday night. The left-hander mowed through the Sarasota lineup, allowing just two hits and two walks through five innings of work. Hamels faced 19 batters and struck out nine of them to pick up his first win of the season.
The outing upped Hamels' 2006 stats to 11 innings, giving up five hits and two walks while striking out 16 hitters. Opponents are now hitting just .128 against him.
As the weather warms up north, look for Hamels to head for either AA Reading or possibly jump right to AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre.
After Hamels' exit, Chris Booker took the mound to start his rehab assignment with Clearwater. The big right-hander threw two innings and was touched for one run in his second inning of work. Booker allowed just one hit - a two-run double - and one walk while striking out three.
Adam Shafer gave up a ninth inning run, but was able to lock down the win for his first save of the season in Clearwater's 4-2 victory.
Mike Costanzo had an RBI double to give him a hit in each of Clearwater's six games. The third base prospect is now hitting .308 on the season.