Cole Hamels lasted six no-hit innings on Monday.(Photo: Brett Davis, USA TODAY Sports)
Cole Hamels and three Philadelphia Phillies relievers teamed up for the fourth no-hitter of the major league season Monday and first combined no-hitter in more than two years, a 7-0 victory over the Braves in Atlanta.
Jake Diekman, Ken Giles and Jonathan Papelbon each threw a perfect inning to finish the first combined no-hitter in Phillies history and the franchise's first of any kind since Roy Halladay against Cincinnati in the 2010 Division Series.
Halladay also threw a perfect game in 2010, against the Florida Marlins.
BOX SCORE: Hitless in Atlanta
Hamels, 30, was removed for a pinch-hitter after pitching six innings, walking five, striking out seven and hitting a batter. The Phillies led 2-0 at the time but Hamels had thrown 108 pitches.
He's exceeded that pitch count in eight of his 24 starts this season, including a high of career-high 133 in seven innings against the New York Mets in May. He last threw more than 108 pitches six starts ago on July 29.
But Hamels said there was little argument when manager Ryne Sandberg removed him for a pinch hitter before he could pitch the seventh.
"I was fighting the whole time," Hamels said in a postgame TV interview. "I was able to get away with six innings, didn't have as much control as I would have liked.
"To have them shut the door in the manner that they did, it's an impressive day. It took the whole team to do it."
It's the third time in major league history that four pitchers have combined for a no-hitter, the most recent in 1991 by the Baltimore Orioles' Bob Milacki, Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson and Gregg Olson. The other one was in 1975 by the Oakland Athletics' Vida Blue, Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad and Rollie Fingers.
The record for pitchers in a no-hitter is six, set by the Houston Astros in 2003 at Yankee Stadium and matched by the Seattle Mariners against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012, the most recent no-hitter by more than one pitcher. Kevin Millwood, who started that game for the Mariners, also pitched a complete-game no-hitter for the Phillies in 2003.
Hamels' game moved him into third place in the National League in earned run average at 2.50, the lowest of his nine major league seasons, but his record is just 8-6 this year. He had six consecutive double-digit victory seasons capped by a career-best 17 in 2012, but slipped to 8-14 and a 3.60 ERA last year.
All four no-hitters this season have been in the National League, the previous ones by Josh Beckett and Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers and Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants.
Hamels, who is in the second year of a six-year, $144 million deal, was discussed on the trade block this summer, as the Phillies seek to rebuild after a third consecutive season missing the playoffs. While a trade was termed unlikely, Hamels is the lone player tied to a big deal that has significant trade value. He entered Monday 106-80 in his career.
GALLERY: Recent MLB no-hitters
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