I got a text from my father that Cole had his no-no going
with 9 strikeouts through six innings Saturday. Luckily, I was in a spot
where I was able to turn on Comcast SportsNet for the start of the bottom of
the 7th and watched Hamels annihilate the Cubs 3, 4, and 5 hitters
with three straight strikeouts on 13 pitches.
He struck out cleanup hitter Jorge Soler for the third time
on the day and Soler broke his bat over his knee (on his 2nd attempt
– first one had to hurt) in frustration. Matt Stairs quipped from the booth
“best contact he’s made all day” and I had a chuckle.
Hamels is the only legitimate major
league player (bullpen excluded) on the Phillies in 2015 and has been the
subject of constant trade rumors for essentially two years straight. He came into the game giving up 13 runs in his last two
starts that only spanned 6.2 innings. Regardless of his past success, those two starts could not have had the buyer's in the market too keen on the southpaw.
Hamels may be able to put on a front and say the incessant trade talk
does not affect his game but it’s hard to believe that he's been able to focus on
his starts the same way he always has throughout his brilliant 10 year career
in Philadelphia. Nevertheless, Hamels has been solid this season the prior two
starts not withstanding.
So with the trade deadline bearing down on Ruben Amaro and
the Phillies, Cole Hamels really needed to have a vintage performance to put
any doubts potential suitors have about his game to rest. In perhaps the
biggest start Hamels has had since late 2012 (the Phils were in the Wild Card
chase a bit in September that year), he delivered what is almost certainly the
best regular season performance of his career.
Hamels struck out 13 and walked two on his way to the first no-hitter of his career.* I did not catch the first 6 innings of
the game, but watching innings 7 through 9 reminded me why I’m a fan of
baseball again, and it had been a while.
I haven’t had that giddy knots in my stomach feeling
watching the Phillies since Ryan Howard tore his Achilles what feels like a
century ago (It was 4 years).
The 8th inning was tense, wow. After getting
ahead of catcher David Ross with 1 out, Hamels left a ball up and Ross crushed
one deep into the left center field gap. Odubel Herrera was on his horse coming
over from right center making an arc on the warning track and circling under
the deep fly ball. Odoobs fell to the ground as he made a running catch to preserve
the no-hitter. He got up and slapped his glove in excitement and we all could
exhale. The next batter, pinch-hitter Kyle Schwarber, sent a hot shot grounder
back up the box that certainly had a chance to make it through the infield but
Hamels stuck out his glove and snared it. He was heading to the 9th
inning with a zero still hanging in the hits column for the Cubs on the south
side of Chicago.
The broadcast did not go to commercial after the Phillies'
half of the 9th inning – not sure I’ve ever seen that before - and
Tom McCarthy started waxing poetic. The coolest stat he got to reel off was
that the Cubs had the longest non no-hit streak in the Majors at over 7000
games. The Cubs hadn’t been no-hit in 50
years and the last man to do it was Sandy Koufax. Whenever you’re doing
something that was last done by Sandy Koufax you know you’re in the rarest of
air there is.
The first two outs of the 9th were uneventful, a
grounder to third base and Hamels 13th strike out of the game. The
last out had to test some mettle of course. Hamels got ahead of dangerous rookie
Kris Bryant but the third baseman was able to work the count full. On the 3-2
pitch he sent a deep drive to dead centerfield and Odoobs was making sure this
ball would not get over his head. In fact, he over ran it and the ball was
coming down at the base of the warning track. Odoobs had gone too far! But at
the last second he was able to leap forward and make a shoestring catch to complete
the no hitter for the second greatest left handed pitcher in the Phillies'
century plus history.
Odoobs made this game ending catch a bit harder than it needed to be. |
What a moment!
The Phils are abysmal and even their recent play (7 out of 8
wins since the All-Star Break) has not been enough to make you think they’ll win
63 games.
But if this was Cole Hamels last start as a Phillie it
really is a fitting way for him to end his career here. Cole Hamels has been
nothing short of fantastic when he’s donned the red pinstripes for our Philadelphia
Phillies. He’s come up big in the biggest moments and put a smile on our faces
every 5th day for a decade straight. Here’s to hoping this
performance was his one last gift to Philadelphia. It helped us enjoy baseball
again, if only for a quick afternoon, and should help bolster any package of
prospects the Phillies are seeking in return for their ace’s services.
*Hamels pitched 6 innings in a combined no-hitter last Labor
Day against the Dodgers.