If the Philadelphia Phillies were looking for a way to up lefty ace Cole Hamels' trade value before the deadline on Friday, Hamels' brush with history on Saturday at Wrigley Field was just the ticket.
Hamels tossed the first solo no-hitter of his career today, blanking the Chicago Cubs 5-0 in was one of the most dominant starts we've seen from any pitcher in Major League Baseball this year. Hamels struck out 13 while walking just two, befuddling the Cubs all day long and inducing weak contact more often than not when Chicago did square one up.
The 31-year-old ace got a huge boost from center fielder Odubel Herrera with one out in the eighth AND two outs in the ninth. Herrera tracked down a gapper hit by Cubs catcher David Ross to left center, laying out on the warning track to preserve Hamels' historic day in a cloud of dust. Herrera followed it up by almost losing a ball in the sun with two outs in the ninth before falling forward on the warning track to bring in the final out.
This marks the 13th no-hitter in Phillies franchise history and the first since Hamels combined with three relievers to blank the Atlanta Braves last September 1st. Hamels joins San Francisco's Chris Heston and Washington's Max Scherzer as the only pitchers to toss no-hitters this year.
There is also a bit of irony to this no-hitter, seeing that the Cubs are one of the main teams who have been connected to Hamels in the litany of trade rumors surrounding him the past couple of months.
Another interesting note? If Hamels is traded, it'd be only the third time a pitcher has been dealt in the same season that he had already thrown a no-hitter, joining Arizona's Edwin Jackson (2010) and Pittsburgh's Cliff Chambers (1951).
This marks the first time the Cubs have been no-hit in fifty years, with Los Angeles Dodgers legend Sandy Koufax the last to do so back in 1965.