Since moving from Montreal to Washington in 2005, the Nationals had never had a no-hit thrown against the club. It finally happened Wednesday. Philadelphia Phillies right-handed pitcher Michael Lorenzen collected his first career no-hitter stifling the Nationals on 124 pitches.
The Phillies won the game by a 7-0 score.
Lorenzen made his second start since being traded to the Phillies from the Detroit Tigers. He had never thrown a complete game before. Now he has the 14th no-hitter in Phillies franchise history.
The Nationals are playing in its 19th season in D.C. The club had never had a no-hitter thrown against it. However, the franchise had been no-hit four previous times while as the Montreal Expos, the latest before Wednesday came in 1999 at the hands of New York Mets pitcher David Cone.
June 10, 1966, was the last time a Washington MLB club had a no-hitter thrown against (h/t Nats Chat Podcast). Sonny Siebert of the Cleveland Indians no-hit the Washington Senators.
Lorenzen struck out five. Joey Meneses and Keibert Ruiz each drew two walks and were the only Nats’ baserunners.
Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos hit two home runs, driving in three runs. Weston Wilson made his MLB debut and hit a home run while drawing two walks. Wilson also scored three runs.
The win improves the Phillies to 63-52 on the year. After hitting a rough patch in the season, Philadelphia has won seven of its last ten games. The Phillies sit in the top NL wild-card spot, 3.5 games ahead.
Meanwhile, 2023 has been a rebuilding year for the Nationals. After winning the World Series in 2019, the Nats have recently shifted to getting younger. Washington has had good moments such as winning five of six over NL Central contenders the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds last, including a three-game sweep of the Reds.
However, the Nationals are 50-65 and 23 games out of first place in the NL East and 9.5 out of the final NL wild-card spot.
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