Four Philadelphia Phillies pitchers were unhittable today. In the first combined no-hitter in a couple of years, Phillies starter Cole Hamels got some ace help from a trio of relievers to post a victory in Atlanta. But it wasn’t just any victory–Hamels left the game after six innings without having given up a hit, and then in succession relievers Jake Diekman, Ken Giles and Jonathan Papelbon each threw a hitless inning too.
Hamels left the game with a 2-0 lead. Then the Phillies bats got behind the effort and pumped the score up to 7-o by the end. The four pitcher no-hitter is exceedingly rare: the last time four pitchers combined for a no-hitter was in 1991, when Baltimore Orioles’ Bob Milacki, Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson and Gregg Olson did it. A terrific Oakland A’s foursome that included all-stars Vida Blue and Rollie Fingers pitched the first one in the mid-70s. And that’s been all: three total. A no-hitter itself is rare enough. Today’s remarkable Phillies performance was the fourth no-hitter all season in Major League Baseball.
