Herrera twice saves day for Hamels

Cole Hamels faced no real danger Saturday in no-hitting the Cubs 5-0 at Wrigley Field.

The two biggest plays came from rookie center fielder Odubel Herrera. He ran down flyballs by David Ross in the eighth inning and Kris Bryant to end the game, making sprawling catches on both to preserve the no-hitter.

"When that happens, I feel proud," Herrera told reporters through a translator in the Phillies clubhouse.

Herrera made a running catch on Ross' ball in the eighth, stumbling on the warning track after he caught it. On Bryant's high drive, he barely stayed with it, falling down to make the catch.

"(I) didn't expect the wind to stop the ball like the way it did," he said. "I didn't slide. I just dived because I passed the ball."

Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz has caught four no-hitters, all with the Phillies.

"Personally, I'm real happy," Ruiz said. "It's special for me and I'm excited right now - so are my teammates and Cole. I'm trying to do my best behind home plate and I give everything to Cole because I'm the guy who caught the ball and he did everything in different situations."

Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler was the only man to reach base against Hamels. Fowler walked to lead off the bottom of the first inning and again in the sixth, with two outs.

"I saw him well, but at the end of the day, he made some pitches that he needed to, and he did what he did," Fowler said. "I've faced him quite a bit, and this is probably the sharpest I've seen him. He was around the zone and he made his pitches."

Hamels outdueled Cubs ace Jake Arrieta (11-6), who gave up a 3-run homer to Ryan Howard in the third inning.

"He was great today," Arrieta said of Hamels. "Couldn't really get anything going against him, obviously. We had several guys with some good at-bats, but he had everything working. Breaking ball was really good today. His changeup was down, out of the strike zone. So, yeah, he was good."

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo also praised Hamels.

"It's a special day for him; it stinks on our side," Rizzo said. "He pitched one heck of a game. He kept us off balance.

"He's Cole Hamels. He is who he is. I've never faced him before, and just looking at the video, I know his last 2 starts weren't very good. He just had a lot going. His velocity was there - 95 (mph) when he wanted it. The cutter, his changeup, the curveball, he mixed it up really well."