CHICAGO --
\n\nIn the wake of that moment on June 28, Hamels offered some ominous comments, knowing how tricky an oblique injury can be for a pitcher. He lost two months of pitching in 2017 with a right oblique injury and the effects of that setback -- including mechanical problems upon his return -- lingered deep into his '18 campaign.\n\nGiven that history, Saturday's performance was a mental lift for Hamels.\n\n\"It's a tough thing to actually have to have an injury like that before,\" Hamels said. \"You don't want them to ever occur again. But I understood it wasn't going to be as drastic and the time wasn't going to take as long. But, like anything, you just want to be smart and you just want to build everything back up, because those types of injuries, you have to completely shut down everything.\n\n\"So, you're kind of starting from scratch and if you rush it or don't do something correctly, something else can occur and that's kind of what I wanted to prevent. And I think we did a really good job.\"\n\nIn June, the 35-year-old Hamels spun a 1.22 ERA with 37 strikeouts against nine walks in six starts (37 innings). When he took the mound in Cincinnati on June 28, he did so with 2.3 WAR (per Fangraphs), which was the ninth-highest mark in the National League at the time. He was also fourth in ERA (2.92) and ninth in innings (98 2/3) in the NL before the injury.\n\nAgainst the Brewers, Hamels picked up right where he left off.\n\nOver his five frames, the left-hander averaged 91.1 mph on his fastball, per Statcast. That was right in line with his season rate (91.6 mph) before the injury. Hamels ended with six strikeouts, four scattered singles and no walks issued. He fired his signature changeup 19 times and generated eight of his 16 swinging strikes on the day with that offspeed pitch.\n\n\"He had a playoff slash World Series changeup going on today. He was very good,\" Maddon said. \"Threw a couple good curveballs. He just pitched really well today. So, that was very impressive for his first time back.\"
\n\nHamels walked away with a no-decision, but Albert Almora's go-ahead home run in the seventh helped the Cubs find the win column.\n\nIn Hamels' absence, the Cubs' rotation posted a 3.75 ERA as a group, ranking fifth in the NL in that time period. That included a 2.25 ERA from Hendricks (six starts), a 2.93 ERA from