Jesús Luzardo just silently passed Cole Hamels in Phillies history during latest start

If you are a Phillies pitcher, and you can find a way to have your name attached to Cole Hamels, then you are in some pretty good company.

Hamels, one of the greatest modern-day arms for the Phillies, spent a decade of dominating in Philadelphia en route to four Top 10 Cy Young finishes and a spectacular 2008 postseason run that ended with a World Series title.

Naturally, to be in the same sentence as a guy like Hamels is quite the feat. Following his terrific start on Sunday in Miami, Jesús Luzardo surpassed Hamels in an impressive category. Luzardo, recentlysigned to a five-year extension, handed in the sixth start of his Phillies career with 10 or more strikeouts and no walks. That moved him into third all-time among Philadelphia left-handers, passing Hamels' five.

Who can Jesús Luzardo pass next among dominant left-handed Phillies starters?

This was Luzardo's second start of the season racking up double-digit strikeouts. It was his first time doing so while issuing zero walks (he did hit a batter, though).

Thanks to that specific stat line, Luzardo is now one game away from tying the great Steve Carlton in Phillies history.

Though Luzardo's ERA is above 5.00 this season, he's put together some really solid outings. His biggest flaw is consistency. The Phillies knew what they were signing up for when they threw another $135 million at Luzardo, though. Half of his starts will have him looking like a Cy Young candidate. Others will have fans turning the television off by the fourth inning. But when he's on, it's a sight to behold.

If you're curious where Cristopher Sánchez stands regarding this stat line, he has two of these type of starts in his career. Both happened last season. He tossed a complete-game shutout with 12 punch-outs against the Red Sox (who regrettably have Ranger Suárez on the team) on July 22. His other noteworthy outing came on July at Houston, which resulted in a Phillies loss despite Sánchez's 11 strikeouts in six innings. Sánchez also has six starts with 10-plus strikeouts and one walk issued in his career.

Imagine if both of these guys can go back-to-back starts with 10-plus strikeouts and no walks. Maybe the Phillies will stop being among the worst teams in the National League. But until then, we can enjoy a few Herculean outings from our lefties.

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