Lorenzen throws no-hitter in second start for Phillies
PHILADELPHIA — Michael Lorenzen threw the 14th nohitter in Philadelphia Phillies history, a dazzling performance in only his second start with his new team, to beat the Washington Nationals 7-0 on Wednesday night.
Lorenzen (7-7) struck out five batters, walked four and improved to 2-0 since he was acquired from the Detroit Tigers for a minor leaguer at Major League Baseball’s trade deadline last week.
“That was the coolest moment of my baseball career, just going out there for the ninth,” Lorenzen said. “Just walking out of the dugout, hearing the fans go wild, it gave me the chills. It gave that boost of energy that I needed, for sure.”
It got pretty wild three outs later.
The 31-year-old righthander from California retired Lane Thomas on a ground ball to open the ninth inning, then struck out Joey Meneses looking. The crowd of 30,406 erupted when Lorenzen retired Dominic Smith on a flyout on his career-high 124th pitch to end the first complete game of his MLB career in 2 hours, 9 minutes.
Lorenzen flipped his cap backward and was mobbed by his teammates in a rowdy celebration near the plate.
“I didn’t strike out the world in this game. When you are pitching, balls can land in different places. I just had God’s grace today,” Lorenzen said.
Lorenzen’s mother, Cheryl, and wife, Cassi, wept in the stands during the final out, with Cassi holding their 9-monthold daughter, June. Lorenzen later held his baby aloft on the field and smooched her on the cheek.
“It was incredible. Walking out for the seventh, eighth and ninth, man, these fans. I’ve never been part of an organization where fans are a part of the team,” Lorenzen said. “… If you are feeling fatigued, you don’t feel it at all in front of these fans.”
His teammates lingered near the dugout and continued the line of hugs and high-fives — a scene not unlike the ones last October at Citizens Bank Park. Lorenzen proved he can play a key role in leading the 2022 National League champions back to the postseason.
The Phillies acquired him to stabilize their rotation as they battle the San Francisco Giants for the NL’s top wildcard spot. Philadelphia is second in the NL East standings but 10 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves, the division’s five-time reigning champions. The Phillies began the day tied with the Giants for first in the wild-card race.
Rhys Hoskins, Kyle Schwarber and other Philadelphia players clapped, laughed and yelled “Great trade!” as Phillies general manager Dave Dombrowski walked through the clubhouse shaking hands.
Lorenzen pushed his pitch count to the point where it was questionable if manager Rob Thomson would let him finish the game, but he kept the ball and became the franchise’s first player to throw a no-hitter since Cole Hamels on July 25, 2015, against the Chicago Cubs. Hamels announced his retirement last week.
“Honestly I was upset at myself for the first couple of innings, they were long innings, walking guys. And I knew I was just ruining my chances to go deep in this game,” Lorenzen said. “Thankfully (Thomson) pulled me aside and asked how I was feeling. I said ‘I feel good, it’s nice and cool outside’ … just trying to buy some more innings, and he gave them to me. So hats off to him.”
Thomson said he talked to Lorenzen after the seventh and told the righty he had only about 20 more pitches left.
“You better get quick outs,” Thomson recalled telling him.
Washington was no-hit for the first time in its 19 seasons since the franchise moved from Montreal, where it was known by the Expos nickname. The Expos were last no-hit when the New York Yankees’ David Cone threw a perfect game on July 18, 1999.
Lorenzen, an American League All-Star this season for the Tigers, threw a season-high eight innings of two-run ball in his Phillies debut last week.
He spent much of his career as a reliever for the Cincinnati Reds, but he was exclusively a starter for the Tigers and Los Angeles Angels the past couple seasons.
The no-hitter was the fourth in the majors this season. Framber Valdez of the Houston Astros threw one against the Cleveland Guardians on Aug. 1. Yankees right-hander Domingo Germán pitched a perfect game against the host Oakland Athletis on June 28, and Detroit’s Matt Manning, Alex Lange and Jason Foley of Detroit threw a combined no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays on July 8.
Lorenzen already had one big souvenir from the night: Philadelphia’s grounds crew dug up the rubber and presented it to the pitcher in the clubhouse. The Nationals simply tipped their caps.
“I thought he threw pitches around the zone, not really in the middle of the zone, so he made it difficult for us,” Thomas said. “I thought he made good pitches when he needed to. Especially when his pitch count got high, I thought he threw some good pitches to get some soft contact.”
Meanwhile, Phillies left fielder Weston Wilson homered in his first MLB plate appearance — and after nearly 2,900 at-bats in the minor leagues — while Nick Castellanos homered twice to reach 200 for his career.
Wilson batted seventh and hit the third pitch he saw from MacKenzie Gore (6-9) into the seats in left-center.