Michael Lorenzen threw the 14th no-hitter in Philadelphia Phillies history, a dazzling performance in only his second start with his new team, which beat the Washington Nationals 7-0 on Wednesday night.
The 31-year-old Lorenzen (7-7) struck out five, walked four and improved to 2-0 since he was acquired from Detroit at the trade deadline for a minor leaguer. As a result, Lorenzen became the first pitcher to toss a no-no in his home debut for a team since Don Cardwell did so for the Chicago Cubs in 1960.
Lorenzen’s mother Cheryl and wife Cassi wept in the stands during the final out, with Cassi holding their baby daughter, June. The Phillies acquired the right-hander to stabilize their rotation as the defending National League champions battled the San Francisco Giants for the top wild-card spot.
Lorenzen retired Lane Thomas on a grounder to open the ninth and struck out Joey Meneses looking. The crowd of 30,406 erupted when Lorenzen retired Dominic Smith on a flyball on his 124th pitch to end the game. Lorenzen flipped his cap backward and was mobbed by his teammates in a rowdy celebration near the plate.
Lorenzen pushed his pitch count to the point where it was questionable if Phillies manager Rob Thomson would let him finish the game. But he kept the ball and became the first Phillies pitcher to throw a no-hitter since Cole Hamels on July 25, 2015 against the Cubs. Hamels retired last week.
That franchise also had the longest streak preventing a no-hitter at 3,810 games. The new longest no-no-hitter streak rests with the Los Angeles Angels at 3,760 games. Lorenzen, an All-Star this season for the Tigers, threw a season-high eight innings of two-run ball in his Phillies debut last week.
‘I may have had to wear a bulletproof vest,’ Thomson said when asked if he would have taken Lorenzen out. Washington was no-hit for the first time in its 19 seasons since the franchise moved from Montreal.
Lorenzen spent much of his career as a reliever for the Reds, but he´s been 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. Houston’s Framber Valdez threw one against Cleveland on Aug. 1.
New York Yankees right-hander Domingo Germán pitched a perfect game at Oakland on June 28, and Matt Manning, Alex Lange and Jason Foley of Detroit threw a combined no-no against Toronto on July 8.
