As he hugged Howard following the closing out Hamels had a large look on his face. “And we’re getting more consistent at-bats from these guys and I think that’s why we’re scoring more runs”. “That’s right under it”.
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It was the first time that the Chicago Cubs had been no-hit since Sandy Koufax threw a ideal game on September 9, 1965. Since Saturday’s no-hitter, Hamels has received some serious attention from both the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers, who appear to be the favorite to land the veteran southpaw before Friday’s deadline. He stole second but was left stranded when Hamels ended the inning with his ninth strikeout of the contest.
There was drama down to the final out, when rookie center fielder Odubel Herrera stumbled on the warning track, but managed to lean forward and catch Kris Bryant’s flyball to end the game.
Hamels has always been special to Furtak, and it has nothing to do with the left-hander becoming a National League All-Star and World Series MVP. This could either help or hurt Chicago in their quest to get Hamels before the deadline.
Even Cubs manager Joe Maddon was impressed by Hamels and called his changeup outstanding. Out of his 92 pitches, 63 of them were strikes.
There were six outs to go when Hamels began leaning on his defense.
Behind the plate was long-time Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz, catching his fourth career no-hitter, tying a major league record.
In beating their cross-bay rivals for the second consecutive day, and 15th time in their last 18 meetings in San Francisco, the Giants posted a fourth straight win and seventh in eight games since the All Star break.
Hamels threw a season-high 129 pitches in his first win since May 23, but said Sunday he was feeling good.
Rancho Bernardo High pitching coach Mark Furtak was on his way back from Idyllwild on Saturday when Cole Hamels’ mother texted him and asked if he’d seen what happened. Rodriguez hit Perkins’ first pitch for a tying homer, and John Ryan Murphy later connected for a three-run shot.
After a long stretch of an increasing walk rate, a falling BABIP, and a falling K rate, Addison Russell finally squared up his first home run in over a month.
When Furtak’s cell service returned, a text message popped up from Amanda Hamels, the mother of Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels. That’s how close the Phils are to being undefeated in their last nine games.
Hamels, who pitched the first six innings of last season’s combined Phillies no-hitter, had never pitched more than 6 2/3 no-hit innings. While Baez is certainly a player worth accepting, Castro has been a disappointment this season which might leave the Phillies uninterested in his value in a deal.
Conforto began his big night with an RBI infield single during a four-run first inning, added doubles in the third and fifth before singling in the sixth. He also struck out 3 in his outing.
Mackanin joked in his postgame news conference that he would be surprised if general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.’s phone “isn’t off the hook right now”. The right-hander said it was hard to follow Hamels’ performance, but he held his own.
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“It’s out of my control”. I spent my youth observing on WGN and also the Pups play. And if you remember yesterday (and I’m sure you do – I know I can’t stop replaying every single marvelous glorious moment in my head), Howard hit one then, too.
