It's safe to say that Cole Hamels lost the first round in his battle with young phenom Bryce Harper. Harper was awarded first base and would eventually steal home plate, while Hamels got a five-game suspension and a boatload of criticism.

This of course, took place when Hamels hit Harper with a pitch in the first inning of a game earlier this month. Afterwards, Hamels said he did it intentionally even though Harper, or any other Nationals player, did nothing that might warrant a repercussion.

Hamels claimed he was trying to restore the old fashion mentality back into the game. "I was trying to hit him. I'm not going to deny it," he said. "That's something I grew up watching, that's kind of what happened. So I'm just trying to continue the old baseball because I think some people are kind of getting away from it. But I think unfortunately the league's protecting certain players and making it not that old-school, prestigious way of baseball."

So now we get round two on Wednesday night, when Hamels takes the mound for the Philadelphia Phillies as they take on the Washington Nationals. Players will be on watch for any dirty play, inside pitches or other extracurricular activity and you could see some tempers flaring.

Clearly what took place has made these two teams rivals pretty quickly, and with a rivalry comes disdain. When asked about Hamels by the Washington Post, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo did not hide his feelings.

"Cole Hamels says he's old school? He's the polar opposite of old school. He's fake tough. He thinks he's going to intimidate us after hitting our 19-year-old rookie who's eight games into the big leagues? He doesn't know who he's dealing with."

The intensity could add a spark to what otherwise has been a very one-sided rivalry. The Nationals have beaten the Phillies 13 of the last 16 contests including the previous two games in this series.

For what it's worth, both Hamels and Harper are playing very well. Hamels is 6-1 this season with a 2.48 ERA. In his last start he pitched seven innings versus Boston to get the win. Harper, just 19, went 2 for 5 with a triple and a pair of RBIs on Tuesday. That brought his batting average up to .325 for the season. He has two home runs and 11 runs scored in his last 10 games.

The Phillies will look to avoid the sweep and gain ground on the Nationals in the standing. Philadelphia, who have won the past five NL East division titles, are in last place with a 21-23 record. The upstart Nationals are in first, compiling a 26-17 record through the start of the season.