Phillies pitcher Michael Lorenzen, left, and catcher J.T. Realmuto celebrate Lorenzen’s no-hitter Wednesday night against the Washington Nationals. Matt Slocum/Associated Press
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 flyball on his 124th pitch. 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 stayed in and became the first Phillies pitcher to throw a no-hitter since Cole Hamels on July 25, 2015, against the Cubs.
“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.
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-hitter against Toronto on July 8.
BREWERS 7, ROCKIES 6: Mark Canha scored the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning on a throwing error by shortstop Ezequiel Tovar as NL Central-leading Milwaukee won at home.
Justin Lawrence (3-5) started the bottom of the 10th with a pitch-strike violation on Canha, who lined the next pitch to deep center for a ground-rule double that scored William Contreras and tied the game. Canha advanced on a groundout and scored an out later when Tovar short-hopped a throw to first on a ground ball off the bat of Andruw Monasterio.
Bryse Wilson (4-0) picked up the win despite allowing a run in the top of the 10th.
MARLINS 5, REDS 4: Josh Bell homered twice and drove in four runs, Bryan De La Cruz hit a go-ahead shot in the ninth and Miami rallied for a victory at Cincinnati.
Bell hit a game-tying three-run homer in the eighth inning before De La Cruz led off the ninth by going the opposite way to right field against Alexis Diaz (3-4).
Graham Ashcraft pitched seven impressive innings, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand homered and drove in three runs for the Reds, who have lost eight of their last nine games.
INTERLEAGUE
CARDINALS 6, RAYS 4: Paul Goldschmidt surpassed 1,100 RBI with a two-run single, and St. Louis won in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Goldschmidt put the Cardinals ahead 5-2 with his hit off Kevin Kelly in the fourth inning.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
BLUE JAYS 1, GUARDIANS 0: George Springer homered in the first inning and Kevin Gausman struck out six in a combined six-hitter, helping Toronto win at Cleveland.
TIGERS 9, TWINS 5: Spencer Torkelson homered twice and Detroit had 17 hits in a win over visiting Minnesota.
Miguel Cabrera went 3 for 4, giving him 3,145 career hits and moving him past Robin Yount into 19th place on the career list.
ATHLETICS 2, RANGERS 0: Freddy Tarnok threw four scoreless relief innings for his first MLB win as Oakland avoided a series sweep and snapped an eight-game winning streak for visiting Texas.
NOTES
GIANTS: Outfielder AJ Pollock will be sidelined for about three weeks because of a strained left oblique muscle.
The Giants put Pollock on their 10-day injured list before their series finale against the Los Angeles Angels.
Pollock was taken out of Tuesday’s game in the third inning. The Giants acquired the 12-year major league veteran from Seattle at the trade deadline, along with infielder Mark Mathias.
Pollock is 0 for 6 in his first five games with San Francisco, including two starts. He is batting .165 this season with five homers and 15 RBI in 54 games while struggling with injuries.
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