Phillies pitcher Michael Lorenzen threw the 14th no-hitter in franchise history, but his family's reaction to the feat was actually the best part.
The Philadelphia Phillies made a big move at the trade deadline to acquire right-handed starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen from the Detroit Tigers, a deal needed to bolster the rotation.
It turns out, it was also a deal needed for the franchise to see the 14th no-hitter in its history.
On Wednesday night in Philadelphia facing off against the NL East-rival Washington Nationals, Lorenzen got off to a little bit of a shaky start, walking a batter in each of the first two innings. He actually went on to walk two more throughout the game. But all that did was push the pitch count up to a gaudy 124 on the night because he didn't allow another base-runner on the night.
For as impressive as the no-hitter was for Lorenzen, though, nothing was more special than his family's reaction while watching in the crowd at Citizens Bank Park.
Phillies: Michael Lorenzen's family had perfect reaction to no-hitter
His mom, wife and child were all in attendance on Wednesday night and, as they filmed the special moment, they were in more disbelief than the Phillies pitcher, sobbing with joy as Lorenzen etched his name in history. In doing so, they created a beautiful moment themselves.
Lorenzen's father passed away in 2016. Incidentally, in his first game back — then with the Reds — from the bereavement list, the pitcher hit a home run in a rare at-bat, honoring his deceased father with the big moment.
After his no-hitter, he got choked up when asked about his dad on the broadcast.
Wednesday night was perhaps just as special. You could see it all in the faces of Lorenzen's family when he got the final out of the night. And of course it's special. Not only is he on a new team, but he's in the midst of a career year overall after years of battling to become a starter and not just a reliever.
Talk about a way to prove you belong in that role, and a cherry on top of this season for him.