Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels is doused with water after throwing a no hitter against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports

AFP/Philadelphia

Cole Hamels threw his first solo no-hitter on Saturday, striking out 13 batters in the Philadelphia Phillies’ 5-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Hamels threw 129 pitches over nine innings and allowed just two baserunners on walks as the Phillies won their third straight and seventh in eight games since the Major League Baseball All-Star break.
“It is one of the most special moments I have had,” said the 2008 World Series Most Valuable Player Hamels. “It finally felt like it was clicking and I was able to just let things happen.”
Hamels has been the subject of trade rumours of late and his no-hitter comes just six days before MLB’s trade deadline. Coming into Saturday’s contest, the 31-year-old hurler was winless in his last nine starts, but there was no sign of his recent struggles in the way he pitched against the Cubs—who had not been no-hit in five decades.
“I was just happy I was able to execute pitches in the first two innings,” he said. “I have had a tough time in the past couple of weeks doing that. All I have been thinking about the last couple of days is to correct my pitching. When you are able to accomplish great feats in this game you have to stay humbled by them.”
The game ended on a falling catch by Phillies rookie centre fielder Odubel Herrera on the warning track which touched off a celebration by Hamels’ teammates in front of a crowd of 41,000. It is the 13th no-hitter in Phillies’ history and the first time the Cubs have been no-hit since Sandy Koufax’s perfect game for the Los Angeles Dodgers in September 1965. The Cubs are said to be one of the teams looking at trying to land Hamels.
Hamels was part of a shared no-hitter last September when he combined with three relief pitchers to deny the Braves a hit in a 7-0 victory in Atlanta. He says when you are in the middle of throwing a no-hitter there is no feeling like it.
 “It is nothing like you prepare for. The game kind of slows down and you are able to harness your adrenaline. I had a comfortable rhythm,” he said. Hamels declined to talk about the trade speculation. “Right now I am wearing the Phillies’ red and that is where I plan to play. It is out of my control,” he said.
Chicago right-handed starter Jake Arrieta threw six innings as the Cubs lost their second straight.  Chicago’s best chance to score happened in the sixth when Dexter Fowler walked with two out. He stole second but was left stranded when Hamels ended the inning with his ninth strikeout of the contest.  
Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant sent a liner towards the ivy-covered wall in centre field for the final out of the game. This is the third no-hitter in the majors this season. Washington’s Max Scherzer no-hit Pittsburgh on June 20 and San Francisco Giants rookie Chris Heston no-hit the New York Mets on June 9.

Giants 2, A’s 1
Left-hander Madison Bumgarner limited the Oakland Athletics to one run in seven innings and helped his cause with his third home run of the season, delivering the San Francisco Giants a 2-1 victory on Saturday.
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.

Tigers 5, Red Sox 1
Nick Castellanos hit a home run and drove in three runs as the Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox 5-1 on Saturday. Castellanos, Detroit’s third baseman, also hit a two-run double for Detroit (48-49). Detroit left fielder Yoenis Cespedes hit a solo homer against his former team and also threw out a runner at the plate.

Blue Jays 8, Mariners 6
Toronto first baseman Chris Colabello, whose first career home run came in the 13th inning of a 2013 win over the Seattle Mariners, provided some Safeco Field heroics again on Saturday in the Blue Jays’ 8-6 win.
Colabello’s bases-loaded, two-run single off Seattle closer Carson Smith in the top of the ninth inning finished off a Toronto comeback from three runs down.
The Blue Jays (50-49) trailed 6-4 in the eighth before pinch hitter Ezequiel Carrera tied the score with a two-run home run.

Orioles 5, Rays 1
Miguel Gonzalez of the Baltimore Orioles continued his mastery of the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, taking a shutout into the eighth inning as Baltimore rode Chris Davis’ grand slam to a 5-1 win at Tropicana Field.
The Orioles (47-49) ended a four-game
losing streak behind Miguel Gonzalez, who came in with a 0.84 earned-run average in three starts against the Rays this season.

Cardinals 1, Braves 0
Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez threw eight scoreless innings while Shelby Miller’s streak of winless starts reached 12 as St. Louis eked out a 1-0 win over Atlanta at sold-out Busch Stadium.

White Sox 10, Indians 3
Chicago scored five runs in the first and Chris Sale pitched seven strong innings as the White Sox beat Cleveland 10-3 on Saturday at Progressive Field, the third consecutive blowout win over the reeling Indians.
In winning the first three games of the series, Chicago (45-50) have outscored Cleveland 24-4 and moved out of last place in the AL Central, ahead of the Indians (45-51).

Yankees 8, Twins 5
Yankees designated hitter Alex Rodriguez homered three times and catcher John Ryan Murphy added the go-ahead homer in the ninth inning as New York rallied to beat the Minnesota Twins 8-5 at Target Field.
Rodriguez’s third homer of the game came on the first pitch of the ninth from Twins closer Glen Perkins, who had blown just one save in 30 chances prior to Saturday. It was the fifth career three-homer game for Rodriguez, whose third blast of the game tied things at 5-5.

Nationals 9, Pirates 3
Michael Taylor went 4-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs and Gio Gonzalez won his fourth straight decision as the Washington Nationals downed the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-3.
Taylor, the rookie leadoff-hitting center fielder, capped the scoring with a two-run home run in the eighth inning off Pirates reliever Arquimedes Caminero. It was Taylor’s seventh homer of the season.