In a rare combined no-hitter, four Philadelphia Phillies pitchers held the Atlanta Braves hitless on Monday afternoon. Ace Cole Hamels went the first six innings, striking out seven and walking five on 108 pitches.
Jake Diekman came in to throw a perfect seventh, while Ken Giles struck out the side in the eighth. Closer Jonathan Papelbon came in and finished off the no-hitter for a Phillies team that has had very little to cheer about this season.
The last combined no-hitter in MLB came back in 2003 when the Houston Astros sent six pitchers to the mound against the New York Yankees in a 8-0 win. However, that came with Roy Oswalt having to leave the game after one inning with an injury.
Before that, Francisco Cordova and Ricardo Rincon combined for an extra-inning no-hitter in a Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0 defeat of the Houston Astros in 1997.
Needless to say, this is a rare accomplishment in the Majors.
At the end of the day, Phillies pitchers struck out 12 in no-hitting the Braves.