Hamels finds perfect remedy

What happened to Cole Hamels?

From the Dodgers’ vantage point, absolutely nothing.

The Dodgers couldn’t hit him last October, they couldn’t hit him last month in Philadelphia and they certainly couldn’t hit him Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, as they fell to the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-0, in the opening game of a four-game series.

Hamels (4-2) threw only 97 pitches and held the Dodgers to five hits in his first shutout of what has been a largely turbulent season for him, reducing his earned-run average from 5.21 to 4.40.

The Phillies (32-20), who have baseball’s second-best record behind the Dodgers (37-19), extended their lead over the New York Mets in the National League East to four games and cut the Dodgers’ edge over San Francisco in the West to 8 1/2 games.

Dodgers Manager Joe Torre was left shaking his head.

“If there’s a definition for pitching -- in, out, change speeds, terrific command. . . . “ Torre said. “You really couldn’t center many balls. It’s more than attacking the strike zone. His control where he can hit the outer quarter and the inner quarter, you don’t see that very often.”

The last time Hamels pitched at Dodger Stadium was in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series in October, when he limited the Dodgers to one run over seven innings to seal their elimination.

But between then and Thursday, the reigning World Series MVP’s only notable triumph was the three-year, $20.5-million contract extension he signed with the Phillies in January.

His spring training was shortened by a trip from Florida to Philadelphia to get his elbow examined. (No structural damage was found.)

Unable to build up arm strength, Hamels was charged with 12 runs in 9 2/3 innings over his first two starts.

A line drive by Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder hit him on his left shoulder and knocked him out of his third start.

Five days later, Hamels sprained his ankle trying to field a bunt by Washington’s John Lannan.

But when Hamels faced the Dodgers in Philadelphia on May 14, he was charged with only one earned run in seven innings.

The Dodgers won that game and Hamels received a no-decision.

The start was his best of the season.

Until Thursday.

Hamels faced the minimum number of batters through five innings and didn’t let a man get into scoring position until the sixth inning, when Andre Ethier led off with a double to right. But Matt Kemp flied out to left, Mark Loretta popped up to second and Juan Pierre grounded out.

For the Dodgers, the game marked a continuation of their recent offensive problems.

They are 4-4 over their last eight games but have scored only 20 runs in that period. They were held to two or fewer runs in six of those games and were shut out twice.

Hamels said Manny Ramirez’s absence from the lineup was noticeable.

Asked if he was reminded of his performance in the playoffs last season, Hamels replied, “No, because Manny wasn’t in there. He was the only guy who was getting big hits off me.

“Take him out of the lineup and I think it makes it a little bit easier, even though the lineup is very challenging.”

Absorbing the loss was Clayton Kershaw, who threw more pitches in 5 1/3 innings (105) than Hamels did over the entire game.

Ryan Howard’s run-scoring sacrifice fly in the fourth and Raul Ibanez’s RBI double in the sixth were enough to doom Kershaw to his first home loss of the season.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com