Michael Lorenzen throws the Philadelphia Phillies 14th no-hitter

On a gorgeous night in Philadelphia, the Phillies deadline addition in Michael Lorenzen threw the franchise’s 14th no-hitter in his home debut. In a night filled with debuts, Lorenzen made his case for Dave Dombrowski’s move to trade for another starting pitcher.

Some members of the media questioned the move by Dave Dombrowski to go out and get a starter to add to an already “stacked rotation,” but as the fans in Philadelphia know, that starting pitching is what eventually led to their downfallin the Fall Classic against the Houston Astros. Outside of Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler and Ranger Suarez, the Phillies didn’t have that fourth starter they could trust going into those big games.

If there was any doubt about Dombrowski’s move, there isn’t after tonight as Lorenzen went all nine innings, striking out five and walking four. Watching him pitch, you could tell early on that Lorenzen was locked in attacking batters early on. It seemed like he knew what pitches in arsenal were on and what was working extremely well.

Being in the crowd at Citizens Bank Park just felt special tonight. With Nick Castellanos hitting two home runs and Weston Wilson hitting a home run in his first MLB at-bat, the energy was absolutely electric.

In the eighth inning, Lorenzen was well over 100 pitches, and I personally did not realize what was happening until I got the ESPN NO HITTER alert on my phone. As Lorenzen came out of the dugout in the ninth inning, the Phillies faithful all stood up from their seats and did not sit for the rest of the game.

You could feel the anxiety and excitement in the air as everyone knew what was happening but collectively held their breath. After the first out, the fans began to believe something special like this could happen.

While Cole Hamels threw the last no-hitter in 2015 to be the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter at Wrigley Field. Roy Halladay was the last and first pitcher to throw a no-hitter at Citizens Bank Park in the NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

Lorenzen’s family was all of the fans tonight watching this game. Watching Lorenzen’s reaction postgame with the rest of the team shows you just how much he has already begun to settle in with his new club.

Something special is brewing in Philadelphia, and I’m not just talking about Lorenzen’s Vans cleats going to the Hall of Fame. The Phillies are 10-5 in their last 15 games. With the win, the Phillies have taken the first Wild Card spot with a 3.5-game lead over the Cubs and Reds (little bit of a call back). If the Phillies continue to play the way they are, there is no doubt a Red October is coming.