On Wednesday night, history was made at Citizens Bank Park, and Mike Robertson from @FranzkeLA joined the latest episode of Hittin’ Season to talk about the historic evening of baseball.
Michael Lorenzen, the veteran right-handed pitcher acquired by Dave Dombrowski at the trade deadline from the Detroit Tigers, threw just the 14th no-hitter in franchise history. It was also just the second no-no ever thrown at Citizens Bank Park, the only other being Roy Halladay’s legendary no-hitter in Game 1 of the 2010 NLDS against the Reds.
Lorenzen’s outing is now also the stuff of legend.
After throwing 100 pitches through seven innings, it was far from certain manager Rob Thomson would let him complete the masterpiece, but Lorenzen got the ball for the 8th, needed just 11 pitches to retire the side in order, and finished things off by getting Dominic Smith to fly out to center fielder Johan Rojas for the final out of what turned out to be a historic regular season game at the Bank.
The scenes of his family agonizing through every pitch and every out over the last three innings are legendary, as was the celebration after the game.
Making this game even more special was what rookie left fielder Weston Wilson did in his MLB debut, hitting a home run in his first ever at bat in the big leagues, with his family in attendance watching.
He became the first Phillie since Marlon Anderson in 1999 to homer in his first official big league plate appearance. For a while, it looked like that was going to be the news of the night.
During this most recent homestand, one of the biggest storylines has been the fans, who started things off by openly cheering for the struggling Trea Turner despite his season-long slump. It worked, as Turner has had a marvelous homestand. Thomson, Turner and other players have credited the fans for helping him turn things around.
Last night, as Lorenzen came back out for the 9th inning, the fans once again made their presence felt, giving him a standing ovation as he headed out to the mound.
After the game, Lorenzen credited the crowd with giving him an extra boost to get those final three outs. Being with the Phillies is the first time he’s ever played for a franchise where the fans were actually a part of the team, he said.
A PART OF THE TEAM. Yeah.
With the vibes pristine once again from Citizens Bank Park, here are some other phun phacts (sorry, but we had to) from Lorenzen’s no-hitter last night.
- It’s the first no-hitter thrown since Cole Hamels’ legendary no-no against the Cubs in Chicago back in 2015.
- It was the first no-hitter thrown by a pitcher wearing Vans spikes, which were donated to Cooperstown to commemorate the evening.
- As noted by The Athletic’s Jayson Stark, Lorenzen became just the second pitcher to throw one in his first home start for a franchise in the last 125 years, the first in more than six decades. Don Cardwell (1960) also did it, for the Cubs — after being traded away by the Phillies. Three others did it in the 19th century.
- Lorenzen graduated from Fullerton Union High School in Fullerton, CA. He’s the fourth pitcher from that school to reach the big leagues. ALL FOUR have thrown MLB no-hitters.
- Lorenzen’s no-hitter of the Nationals made it the first time that franchise has ever been no-hit since the franchise moved to Washington (they were formerly the Montreal Expos), ending a streak of 3,810 games.
- Michael Lorenzen’s 124 pitches are the most by a Phillies pitcher since Cole Hamels threw 129 in his 2015 no-hitter.
- Michael Lorenzen is the 3rd pitcher in baseball’s expansion era (since 1961) to throw a no-hitter after playing for a previous team that season.
- Rookie center fielder Rojas, who caught the final out, made 9 putouts in the game. That is the most by an outfielder in an official no hitter since 1900. The previous high was 7, done twice before.
No-hitters always have their share of unique moments, but Lorenzen’s Instant Classic last night is now canon. it will forever be remembered in Phillies lore.
