King Cole shows up, Uncle Charlie leaves him in too long, Chooch saves the day!

Great win for the Phillies tonight over the 1st place Cardinals. Cole Hamels pitched a long-awaited stellar game, going pitch for pitch with Cardinal's ace Adam Wainwright. I thought that Charlie made a mistake leaving Hamels in to pitch the 9th inning. Hamels is a delicate flower mentally and physically, and he is struggling to regain his 2008 form. You don't leave him in if he's past 100 pitches right now; you don't want to wreck his confidence if he gives up a game because he's tiring. Take him out of the game, let him string together some good starts, and then you can ride him to victories later in the season.

Now, maybe Charlie is thinking he doesn't trust the bullpen in a game like this. I can see that. But I say ya don't trust Cole Hamels in a game like this, either.

At any rate, Cole does end up giving up the tying run in the 9th. It might have been because of the copycat fan who ran on the field while Cole was in mid-pitch, ruining his rhythm and concentration. Thanks, fat dude from the corner.

Still, out of adversity comes opportunity (Ben Franklin), and Lights Out Lidge comes in and hoses down the Cardinal's pants, which happened to be on fire. Setting up the unlikely hero of the night: Carlos Ruiz! Chooch hits a dinger in the 10th, running into the loving arms of his teammates. Good to see the rock of the team shine.

The Phils are going to need performances like this from their few remaining healthy players to stay in first place over the next few months. Because, bad news: J.A. Happ is going to be out until at least June, and Jimmy Rollins will likely be joining him on the shelf over that span. We can only hope Lidge, Blanton and Romero are healed up, and that Placido's elbow doesn't get worse.

Also, how bout that fan getting tasered at the game last night after running on the field? The video (below) shows that he wasn't trying to hurt anyone. I find the tasing a little excessive. You want my opinion, the fat officer who was chasing the young man ran out of breath and reached for the panic button.

It's our constant societal state of fear that gets foolish 17-year-olds tasered. This kid is clearly no terrorist, no outfielder assassin. But awful things have happened at sporting events and now this kind of good old-fashioned carrying-on has become a threat to national security. I hate it, but I kind of see the point in being careful.

Here's a video of the Phillies fan getting tased after he ran onto the field, shot by a fan and posted on youtube: