Stark: Michael Lorenzen’s no-hitter baseball hair was in the Phillies’ second start

Baseball poetry is sometimes hard to understand.

Cole Hamels threw another Phillies starter on July 25, 2015. Hamels was traded by the Phillies to Texas less than a week later. He never threw another pitch like Philly.

Then, eight years and two weeks later, Michael Lorenzen threw the Phillies next 7-0 win over Washington on Wednesday. This came just over a week after it was traded to Phillies. This was him Firstly Start in Philadelphia after that trade.

baseball. Always amazing.

Lorenzen Express

Once, long before he pitched baseball in Philadelphia, long before he became a player in the major leagues, Lorenzen saw this night in his dreams.

He told NBC Sports Philadelphia during the Phillies’ postgame telecast: “I watched every single one of my Nolan Ryan players, because I always wanted to not get hit. And the fact that I just did it in front of this fanbase, I can’t believe it.”

But before this night, Lorenzen’s dream had not come close to being fulfilled.

• He has never thrown a complete game in the major leagues.

• He caught only once in the ninth inning of a major league start (May 1, 2022, as an Angel).

• His longest scoreless start was seven innings, less than three weeks ago – a July 20 start with the Tigers where he gave up three hits in Kansas City.

And then, in the first game in Philadelphia as a Phillie, he pitched a no-hitter.

Other things you should know

Michael Lorenzen, All Stars – How many players have played in this year’s All-Star Game and been traded by the trade deadline? Exactly one. Michael Lorenzen. And then two began, no-hitter threw.

Michael Lorenzen, the best pitcher in baseball – It’s no secret that the season did not start in July. I started in March. But since July 1st, who has the lowest ERA in baseball history of any player in baseball? Yes. Michael Lorenzen.

His ERA in six years since the start of July: 1.11. That puts him directly ahead of the Padres’ Blake Snell, whose ERA in that run is 1.22 (minimum 30 innings pitched).

Dealt with deadline – Since the trade deadline was moved to late July in 1986, only one player has changed teams in the deadline and then throws an unsubscriber to his new team. This was (from another) Mike Ferris.

Fiers was traded by the Brewers to the Astros at the 2015 deadline. He then no-hittered the Dodgers in his fourth start as an Astro.

Buy this guy a cheesesteak. How rare is it for any pitcher to rotate a no-hitter in his first start home for any franchise? Perhaps this will sum it up:

Lorenzen was the second to do so in the last 125 years. It is the first in more than six decades.

According to Sarah Lang of MLB.com, via the Elias Sports Bureau, only four pitchers besides Lorenzen have ever had successful home runs with a team:

• Don Cardwell, Cubs: May 15, 1960
• Jay Hughes, Orioles: April 22, 1898
• Bumpus Jones, Reeds: October 15, 1892
• Ed Cushman, Milwaukee Cream Cities: September 28, 1884

Citizens – They are in last place. They have their problems. But one thing they didn’t look like was that they were prime candidates for not being beaten.

They haven’t been closed since April! Only two teams – the Braves (two) and Diamondbacks (three) have been eliminated fewer times this season than the Nationals (four, prior to this game). And as the athleteDavid Aldridge stated that they have not been hit once in 19 seasons in Washington.

Also, going into this game, only five teams in the majors had a higher team batting average this season than the national team (. 259).

in this game – The Nationals have hit three balls with greater than 50 percent hit probability, according to Statcast — all in the last three innings. Keibert Ruiz and Ildemaro Vargas shone in the seventh, on two badly damaged balls and a hit probability of 0.510 each. Then Alex Cole lined out at number eight, on a ball that had a 0.590 hit probability.

Lorenzen admitted that he needed his defense. He caught 15 fly balls. His five strikeouts were the fewest of any pitcher in a complete game no-hitter in a decade — since Henderson Alvarez rocked a four-run no-hitter for the Marlins on the last day of the 2013 season.

And Lorenzen’s 124 courts were by far the best performance. It was a previous high of 107 – in more than eight years (April 29, 2015). He passed the pitch’s total score before the end of the eighth inning (with a score of 110).

the boss – Phillies manager Rob Thompson told reporters afterward that it was the first time in his life he had ever been on the winning side of a no-hitter.

“First in my entire college career, my early (professional) career, my major league career,” he said.

But Thompson also said he was very close to cutting Lorenzen out of this game.

“After the seventh inning, I went down the tunnel,” Thompson said. I asked him: How are you? And he said, because he was at 100 toss (through) seven. He said: I’m fine. And I asked him: Are you strong? He said: I am strong. I’m fine.’ I said, “Okay, I’ll give you 20 pitches.” And that’s it.’ So I said, “You’d better go fast.” him too. He said: I will. him too. So. It was an amazing, wonderful moment.”

(Top photo: Mitchell Leaf/Getty Images)