"That's what the quarterbacks do, and that's what the Barry Zitos and Cole Hamels do, " House said.

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Hamels, the 2008 World Series MVP, hasn't thrown a pitch with his team leading the game since April 7.

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Using smart drafting, the team developed a core group of homegrown talent in Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Cole Hamels.

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The team has its share of big stars, of course, led by second baseman Chase Utley, shortstop Jimmy Rollins and first baseman Ryan Howard, along with young pitching phenom Cole Hamels.

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With the H2O starting rotation of Roy Halliday, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels, they are light years ahead of where they were last year when they opted to start aging Pedro Martinez twice.

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On Monday, in a 5-1 loss to the Marlins, the Phillies wasted a 10-strikeout, zero-walk outing by Hamels, whose streak of pitching without a lead has now reached 52.2 innings, the 10th longest since 2000.

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But while most of the pitchers ahead of him on the list were at least partly to blame (seven had ERAs over 5.00) Hamels has pretty much been the same All Star pitcher he was in 2012.

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Yes, the Phillies can afford Cole Hamels.

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Not that Mr. Lee should be confused with Mr. Exuberance, but if he leads the Rangers to World Series glory in uncharted fashion his star as a corporate endorser will rise exponentially in much the same way that Cole Hamels experienced a hike in his star after leading the Phillies to a World Championship in 2008.

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