PHILADELPHIA — 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.
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 fly ball 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.
“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 baby daughter, June.
“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. “And they gave me that boost that I needed. … If you are feeling fatigued, you don’t feel it at all in front of these fans.”
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 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.
“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.”
Washington was no-hit for the first time in its 19 seasons since the franchise moved from Montreal.
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.
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.
