Hamels Leads Phillies Past Mets

Cole Hamels pitched seven strong innings and handed himself some much-needed run support, sending the Philadelphia Phillies to a 6-2 victory over the New York Mets on Wednesday night.

Carlos Ruiz homered and the Phillies overcame a couple of mental mistakes by Jimmy Rollins to win for only the third time in 17 road games. Hamels hit a two-run single to help Philadelphia improve to 8-5 under interim manager Ryne Sandberg.

Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-2) labored through 4 1-3 innings on Japanese Heritage Night in his second start for the new-look Mets, who have dropped six of seven. Depleted by key injuries and Tuesday's trade that sent Marlon Byrd and John Buck to Pittsburgh, New York fell to 2-6 on a nine-game homestand.

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