*Photo from the Baltimore Sun*
Sometimes, certain things are just meant to be. Nick Castellanos homered twice, Michael Lorenzen threw a no hitter, and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Washington Nationals 7-0 in Philadelphia on Wednesday night.
It took Lorenzen 124 pitches to get the job done, marking the first no hitter by a Phillies pitcher since Cole Hamels did it in 2015. He also did it in just his second start with the Phillies and his first at Citizens Bank Park since being acquired from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline.
Lorenzen said after the game that "This game has punched me in the face so many times. This is my ninth season, and I have yet to have a year that I’m happy about. I’ve just got to rely on the work that I’ve put in and trusting and hoping that it’s going to pay off at some point. It’s been a good year."
Bryce Harper started the scoring for the Phillies, giving them a 1-0 lead in the first inning with an RBI double. Castellanos then tripled the lead, hitting a two run home run to center field to make it 3-0 Phillies. In the second inning, Weston Wilson hit a solo home run in his first major league at bat to make it a 4-0 game.
Castellanos padded the lead once again in the 3rd inning, hitting a solo home run for his second longball of the night, making it a 5-0 game. Johan Rojas hit an RBI single in the 4th inning to score Wilson and make it 6-0. Wilson scored again in the 7th on Alec Bohm's RBI single to make it a 7-0 score.
In his no hitter, Lorenzen struck out 5 and walked 4 to complete the feat. It was the first no hitter thrown by a Phillies pitcher at home since Roy Halladay did it in the 2010 NLDS. His 124 pitches were the most in a no hitter since Mike Fiers threw 131 pitches in a 2019 no hitter.
Lorenzen said of heading out for the 9th inning that "As I’m walking out, I'm telling you, the fans going crazy, it’s hard not to get a little emotional. This is what I’ve worked for. This is a dream come true. I’m walking out for the ninth inning. I have no hits. I’m in a city like Philly, and these guys are going crazy. I can’t hear the PitchCom. The PitchCom is all the way up to the highest level. It got a little emotional before that ninth inning started. It gave my body that boost that it needed. That was the coolest moment of my baseball career."
On the Nationals side, they were no hit for the first time in 3,810 days, dating back to July 18, 1999, when they were the Montreal Expos. Now, they've been no hit for the first time as the Nationals. They had the longest run without being no hit in the majors.
Nationals manager Dave Martinez said of being no hit that "I think they were really trying to stay back and stay in the middle of the field. We barreled some balls up, probably eight or nine. In the eighth inning, we hit some balls well. It just wasn’t our day. Sometimes it’s meant to be, and today was meant to be for him."
The series wraps up on Thursday night. Aaron Nola starts for the Phillies as they go for the series win, while Patrick Corbin starts for the Nationals as they try to end the series with a split.
Comments
Post a Comment