Phillies Throw Combined No-Hitter!

2014 Chachi #61

Phillies 7, Braves 0
Game 137 - Monday Afternoon, September 1st in Atlanta
Record - 63-74

One Sentence Summary:  Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman, Ken Giles and Jonathan Papelbon combined to no-hit the Braves as the Phillies won a memorable Labor Day game in Atlanta.

What It Means:  It means (for me at least) that this was the highlight of the 2014 Phillies season.  We all watched each and every pitch of the last two innings together, and we cheered when first baseman Darin Ruf caught the line drive from Phil Gosselin to end the game and give the Phillies their first combined no-hitter in franchise history.  Very cool stuff.

What Happened:  Hamels threw the first six innings, but departed when his pitch count reached 108.  Diekman, Giles and Papelbon shut down their nine batters in order.  Marlon Byrd made a spectacular diving catch in the third to preserve the no-hitter.

Somewhat lost in the shuffle due to the amazing pitching performance was Ben Revere's first career five-RBI day.  Revere cleared the bases with a triple in the seventh.  Jimmy Rollins had three hits and an RBI triple, with his triple giving him 658 multi-hit games as a Phillie - the most in franchise history.  Richie Ashburn was the previous record holder with 657 multi-hit games.

Other cool stuff/random thoughts from the no-hitter . . .

2014 Bowman #204

• Hamels dedicated the game ball from the final out to team president David Montgomery who is currently out on medical leave recovering from jaw cancer.
• This was the third no-hitter caught by Carlos Ruiz, second only to the four caught by Jason Varitek.
• Ruiz, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard were in the line-up for all three no-hitters.
• I hope Topps does something cool to commemorate the four pitchers who contributed to this feat.  It would be easy to just feature Hamels on a card, but I'm hoping for a card featuring all four pitchers.
• The Phillies typically give away a set of postcards during the last game of the season showing highlights from the past year.  Do you think they stopped the presses to squeeze in a card for the combined no-hitter?

Featured Cards:  I had to produce a Chachi Highlight card to celebrate this feat, although I had to get a little creative with the photo selections.  I was really hoping to find a photo with all four pitchers smiling and celebrating, but the only photos out there are from the post-game interview and press conference, which seemed somewhat anti-climatic.

Memory Lane:  This is the third no-hitter to be thrown during the lifetime of the Chachi sets.  Here are the links to the other two no-hitters, both courtesy of Roy Halladay.

5/29/10 - Halladay threw the 20th perfect game in Major League history
10/6/10 - Halladay no-hit the Reds in Game 1 of the N.L.D.S.
9/1/14 - Hamels, Diekman, Giles and Papelbon combine for the franchise's 12th no-hitter