Phillies pitcher Michael Lorenzen throws a no-hitter against the Nationals

PHILADELPHIA — Michael Lorenzen threw the 14th-hitter in Philadelphia Phillies history, a stunning performance in only his second start with his freshman team, who beat the Washington Nationals 7-0 Wednesday night.

Lorenzen, 31, strike out five, walk four and improve to 2-0 since being acquired from Detroit at the trade deadline for a junior runner. His 124 pitches — the highest of his career — are the most by any player in a game this season and the most in a single game since Mike Fiers’ 131 in 2019.

Lorenzen retired Lyn Thomas on a grounder to open the ninth and hit Joey Meneses looking. The crowd of 30,406 erupted when Lorenzen retired Dominic Smith on a fly ball to finish his first career no-hitter at 2 hours 9 minutes. Lorenzen tipped his hat back and his teammates had him in a wild celebration near the plate.

“I didn’t light the world on this game,” Lorenzen said. “When you pitch, balls can land in different places. I just had the grace of God today.”

Lorenzen’s mother Cheryl and wife Cassie cried in the stands during the final, as Cassie held their infant daughter, June.

“It was unbelievable. Going out for the seventh, eighth, ninth guy, these cheerleaders. I’ve never been part of an organization where the cheerleaders are part of the team,” Lorenzen said. “And they gave me this push that I needed… If you’re feeling tired, you won’t feel it at all in front of those fans.”

Since opening in 2004, Citizens Bank Park has only seen the Phillies throw one before Wednesday: Roy Halladay in the 2010 postseason.

Lorenzen proved he could play a key role in leading the Phillies back to the postseason.

The Phillies acquired a right-hander to stabilize their rotation as the defending national champions battled with the San Francisco Giants for first place.

Lorenzen pushed his pitch count to the point where it was questionable whether coach Rob Thompson would let him finish the game. But he kept the ball and became the first Phillies pitcher to throw a no-hitter since Cole Hamels on July 25, 2015 against the Chicago Cubs. Hummels, who threw 129 pitches in that game, retired last week.

“Honestly, I was really upset with myself the first two innings, they were long runs, men walks. And I knew I was just ruining my chances of getting deep in this game,” Lorenzen said. “Luckily, [Thomson] He pulled me aside and asked how I felt. I said “I feel good, it’s nice and cool outside”…just trying to buy more roles and he gave it to me. Even hats off to him.”

The Nationals entered Wednesday with the longest active streak of any franchise without suffering an injury; Their last game against them, when they were at the Montreal Expos, was David Kuhn’s perfect game with the New York Yankees on July 18, 1999. The franchise hasn’t been as successful since moving to Washington in 2005.

Lorenzen, an All-Star this season with the Tigers, threw a season-high eight innings of two-run ball in his Phillies debut last week and is the fourth pitcher in the last 30 seasons to throw a no-hitter over his first two seasons. Games erected for a franchise.

Lorenzen has spent most of his career as a reliever for the Cincinnati Reds, but has been exclusively a starter for the Tigers and Los Angeles Angels the past two seasons.

Prior to Wednesday, Lorenzen’s previous high for pitches thrown was in a game of 107, on April 29, 2015, against the Milwaukee Brewers.

It was the second batter caught by JT Realmuto in his career. He was also behind dish no-hitter Edinson Vólquez on June 3, 2017, with the Marlins.

The no-hitter finished fourth in the season’s majors. Houston’s Framper Valdez threw one against Cleveland on August 1. New York Yankees right-hander Domingo German pitched a perfect game in Oakland on June 28, and Detroit’s Matt Manning, Alex Lang, and Jason Foley threw a collegiate game against Toronto in July. 8.

ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.