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In just his second start with the team since being acquired last month, 31-year-old Michael Lorenzen made history on Aug. 9, becoming the first team to no-hit the Washington Nationals since they moved from Montreal to the District.
At the trade deadline, the Phillies added Lorenzen for their playoff push, giving up infield prospect Hao You Lee to the Detroit Tigers for the first-time All-Star in late July.
And he's making quite the first impression.
Lorenzen threw eight innings of two run ball during his first start against the Marlins last week, wowing his new team, which is sitting in a power position while others are vying to join them in Wild Card contention.
His encore was even more impressive.
Lorenzen became the latest pitcher to throw a no-hitter for the Phillies, spinning 9 innings of near flawless ball, which were only marred by his four walks in a whopping 124 pitches.
Oh, and it was his home debut in Citizens Bank Park. No big deal
Lorenzen becomes the first to throw a no-hitter for the Phightin' Phils in franchise history history in his first home start - and to blank an offense for them since Cole Hamels no hit the Chicago Cubs in 2015.
All these firsts come for a team that has existed since the 1800s.
While unlikely to catch the front-running Atlanta Braves in the NL East, the Phillies now have a 83.9 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to FanGraphs which is a similar position they found themselves in last year when the squad got hot at the end of the year and rode that wave to an NL pennant.
"It was incredible walking out for the seventh, for the eighth, for the ninth," Lorenzen said after the game, according to MLB.com. "It gave me a boost of energy.
"These fans... man, I've never been a part of an organization where the fans are a part of the team. ... They play a role on this field for us, and they gave me that boost that I needed (in the) seventh, eighth and ninth."
This season, before heading east to the Phillies, Lorenzen was 5-7 with a 3.58 ERA and will be a free agent at the end of the year. He’s undefeated with his new team.
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