Last night Cole Hamels was untouchable; literally.

Well almost…

Hamels (2-1, 0.82 ERA), allowed one hit and no runs over seven innings as the Phillies beat the Cubs 7-1. The only hit he allowed was a Derek Lee double in the fourth (Lee’s first career hit off Hamels). Hamels had command over all his pitches, and continued to make the case that he has the best changeup in the National League (there is that Johan guy).

On the Cubs side of the diamond, Ted Lilly continued to struggle in 2008. After walking Pat Burrell to open the second, he gave up a two-run shot to Pedro Feliz, to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead. In the fifth, Shane Victorino scored on a wild pitch, and Chase Utley followed him on a Ryan Howard blast, giving the Phillies a 5-0 lead and ending Lilly’s outing.

Despite not having Jimmy Rollins for a fourth consecutive game, the Phillies were running on all cylinders last night. A dominant pitching outing, good defense, and strong hitting. Last night the Phillies finally had shown what they are capable of.

Despite Hamels dominant outing, he wasn’t pleased with his performance.

“It’s a scary feeling, especially in this ballpark,” Hamels said. “In the summer, those things will be five rows deep. I felt better after the third inning. It’s part of the game. I lucked out. They hit a lot of balls hard that I left over the plate — right at guys. I wasn’t hitting my usual location. It’s one of those things where I’m thanking our defense.”

Hamels did give up some long fly balls, but they stayed in the park, and the defense was quick to track down the ball (especially an amazing catch by Victorino in the second).  Weather assisted or not, the Phillies have to happy with Hamels performance.

On another positive note, last night was the third consecutive game where Phillies starting pitchers had “quality starts”. Over the last three games Adam Eaton, Brett Myers, and Hamels pitched 21 innings, allowing 7 runs and 4 walks, while striking out 15.

Jamie Moyer (1-0, 4.66) looks to continue the good starting pitching as the Phillies look to sweep the Cubs. Moyer is 2-0 in four career starts against the Cubs, the team he broke into the league with in 1986. He’ll face Jason Marquis (0-0, 6.75). The game will be a national telecast, courtesy of TBS.