Hamels Dominates Norfolk in First AAA Start

It won't be long now! Okay, okay, it's one start and we can't quite make Cole Hamels the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young winner just yet. The left-handed prospect struck out 14 hitters over seven innings in his first AAA start against Norfolk.

Cole Hamels made his AAA debut Thursday afternoon in Norfolk and it was a definite success. The left-hander struck out 14 and allowed just three hits and no walks in blanking the Tides through seven innings. After throwing 98 pitches - 66 (67%) were strikes - Hamels was lifted for a pinch-hitter to open the bottom of the eighth inning.

Hamels was promoted to AAA on Monday after four starts at High-A Clearwater. The move had him skip over AA Reading and move to just one step away from the majors.

The Red Barons got two first inning runs to give Hamels the lead before he even walked to the mound. Carlos Ruiz hit homerun number six on the season in the first inning, scoring Chris Roberson who led off the game with a bunt single. Ruiz singled with one out in the third and scored on a double by Chris Coste to give Scranton a 3-0 lead. Later in the inning, Josh Kroeger drove home Coste with an RBI single. The score was 4-0 when Hamels exited the game.