No-renzen: Phillies 7, Nationals 0

Michael Lorenzen’s first start with the Phillies went pretty well. He pitched eight innings, giving up a lone run, and we figured that he would have a tough time topping that effort going forward. Well, he certainly managed to top it. In his start against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night, Lorenzen pitched nine innings, without allowing a hit, leading the Phillies to a 7-0 victory.

Most nights, Nick Castellanos would have been the story of the game. He continued to put his dreadful July behind him, hitting two home runs, including his career 200th.

Most nights, Weston Wilson would have been the story of the game. The rookie came to the plate for the first time as a major leaguer in the second inning and did something that no Phillie had done since Marlon Anderson.

The outburst by the offense - as well as four walks allowed - made it easy to overlook what Lorenzen was doing in the early going. It felt like by the time we got over the heroics of Castellanos and Wilson, it was pretty deep into the game, and we suddenly noticed that Lorenzen hadn’t given up a hit.

After the seventh inning, Lorenzen was sitting at 100 pitches, and there were murmurs about whether he’d be allowed to finish the game.

But after cruising through the eighth with an efficient eleven pitches, he was sent back to the mound for the ninth.

First, Lane Thomas grounded out. Next, the villain of Tuesday night’s game, Joey Meneses, got caught looking at strike three. And after an eight-pitch battle, Dominic Smith ended it with a fly out to center.

This was the 14th no-hitter in Phillies’ history, and the first since the newly retired Cole Hamels did it in 2015. Wednesday is also my birthday, so thanks to all my friends for their “Michael Lorenzen just gave you a birthday present” messages.

The Phillies haven’t given the fans many fun, easy victories like this one this season. We’ll see if Aaron Nola and company can make it two in a row as they wrap up the four-game series against the Nationals on Thursday.