It sure didn’t take long for Michael Lorenzen to leave his mark in Philadelphia.
In just his second start with the Phillies – and first in his new home city – Lorenzen threw a no-hitter Wednesday against the Washington Nationals, leading the Phils to a 7-0 victory.
Lorenzen finished the gem performance – which also goes down as his first career complete game – by getting Dominic Smith to fly out to center field.
The 31-year-old threw the no-hitter with his family, including his mother, in attendance, and he got emotional postgame when speaking about his late father.
Lorenzen struck out five and walked four on the night while inducing 12 fly-ball outs on a career-high 124 pitches (76 strikes). His pitch count is the highest in a complete-game no-hitter since Mike Fiers’ 131-pitch no-no for Oakland in 2019, per Stathead. Lorenzen’s no-hitter is also the fifth in the last 50 seasons with four or more walks and five or fewer strikeouts, according to MASN’s Mark Zuckerman.
Despite the high pitch count, manager Rob Thomson sent Lorenzen back out for the ninth inning to take his shot at history. Lorenzen praised the Phillies crowd for giving him the extra surge ahead of his flawless final frame.
“That was the coolest moment of my baseball career, going out there for the ninth,” Lorenzen said, according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. “Just walking out of the dugout and hearing the fans go wild, it gave me the chills. It gave me that boost of energy that I needed for sure.”
Wednesday’s result is the 14th no-hitter in Phillies history, dating back to 1883, and the first since Cole Hamels in 2015. It’s also the club’s first no-hitter at Citizens Bank Park since Roy Halladay’s postseason no-no in the 2010 NLDS.
Lorenzen got plenty of help from his teammates on the night. Nick Castellanos hit two homers, including the 200th of his career, and drove in three runs. Rookie Wes Wilson, playing in his first big-league game after seven years and over 2,000 plate appearances in the minors, chipped in with a homer in his first major-league at-bat.
The Phillies acquired Lorenzen from the Detroit Tigers ahead of this year’s trade deadline, and he now owns a sparkling 1.06 ERA and 0.65 WHIP in two starts with the club. Lorenzen is the eighth pitcher in history and third in the expansion era (since 1961) to throw a no-hitter after switching teams midseason, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.
After spending the bulk of his career as a reliever (and occasional two-way player), Lorenzen moved to a full-time starting role for the first time last season. He represented the Tigers at this year’s All-Star Game in Seattle, his first appearance in the Midsummer Classic.
The Nationals, meanwhile, were held without a hit for the first time in 3,810 games, ending the majors’ longest active run without being no-hit. Before Wednesday, their most recent no-hit loss had come in David Cone’s perfect game on July 18, 1999, when they were known as the Montreal Expos.
With the Nats’ streak ending, the Los Angeles Angels now own the longest active streak of not being no-hit at 3,760 games, dating back to Sept. 11, 1999. It’s the second time this record has changed hands in 2023; Washington inherited it from the Athletics on June 28.
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