KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Recruiting pitches at the All-Star Game don't always work.

Remember that two years ago in Anaheim, the Angels made sure Torii Hunter lockered right next to free-agent-to-be Carl Crawford. Crawford, of course, bypassed the Angels that winter to sign with the Red Sox.

But bring the best players in baseball together, and you can be sure they'll try to influence their teammates-for-a-day. The last two days, Cole Hamels has heard it all.

Hamels, whose locker in the National League clubhouse was next to Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw's, insisted that the recruiting pitches won't help.

"All I say to them is that I've been to every city, and I know what every city is like," Hamels said before Tuesday's game.

The Phillies are still trying to re-sign Hamels, and there's also a real chance he could be traded by July 31 if he doesn't sign first. But Hamels spent Tuesday talking about how the Phillies still might be able to go on a run and get back in a race.

Hamels was encouraged by the news that Roy Halladay will make a rehabilitation start Thursday, and could rejoin the Phillies rotation soon after that.

"We might start a roll," Hamels said. "We might even be able to sweep a team. Have we done that this year?

"We have to get back to having confidence. If we do that, we can be the team that won 102 games [last year]."

The Phillies have not swept a three-game series this year. They swept seven three-game series and three four-game series last year.