Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Michael Lorenzen makes his first start since tossing a no-hitter against the Nationals last week when he faces the same team on Friday in the opener of a three-game series at Washington.
Lorenzen (7-7, 3.23 ERA) no-hit the Nationals in a 7-0 win on Aug. 9. He struck out five and walked four while throwing 124 pitches. It was the 14th no-hitter in Phillies history.
"You've just got to live in the strike zone and hope they continue to hit balls right at guys," he said. "That was kind of the story of the night. If you give up a base hit, you give up a base hit. So what?"
Over his past six starts, Lorenzen is 5-1 with a 1.11 ERA. Opposing hitters have a .143 batting average against him during that stretch, and he has given up one home run in 40 2/3 innings.
Lorenzen, who will be making his third start for the Phillies since being acquired from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline, is 1-1 with a 4.22 ERA in 14 career games, three starts, vs. Washington.
The Nationals will counter with right-hander Joan Adon (1-0, 5.14 ERA) as they, like the Phillies, are using a six-man rotation. Adon started against the Oakland Athletics on Aug. 11 but left after three innings because of cramping in both legs. He allowed two runs on two hits.
Adon has faced the Phillies twice previously, a pair of starts in 2022, and he went 0-2 with an 8.00 ERA.
Washington is 5-1 on its current homestand and has won 10 of 14 overall after a 10-7 over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday.
Joey Meneses had two hits and drove in five runs, and Patrick Corbin pitched six strong innings as the Nationals matched their 55-win total from 2022 with more than a month remaining.
"I love the way these guys are playing," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. "I love the way our young guys have stepped up. Our starting pitching is giving us a chance to win some games, and our bullpen has been really good. I'm proud of these guys."
Keibert Ruiz had three hits, and Stone Garrett had two hits and three RBIs for the Nationals.
Meneses has now reached safely in 13 of his past 14 games. He is 17-for-57 (.298) with five doubles, three homers, 10 RBIs, seven walks and 14 runs since Aug. 2.
"It was definitely a tough beginning for us this season," Meneses said via an interpreter. "Thank God that this last month we've been playing a lot better. We feel a lot more confident out there in everybody's ability."
The Phillies broke out of a scoring slump on Wednesday in a 9-4 road win over the Toronto Blue Jays. Philadelphia had scored a total of two runs while losing each of its previous three games.
Former National Bryce Harper hit his eighth and ninth homers of the season, a pair of solo shots, while going 3-for-4 with a walk. It was his 25th career multi-homer game and his first this season.
"I like swinging in August, September and October," Harper said. "Looking forward to (the Wednesday game) being a stepping stone into my weekend."
Harper started at first base for the first time since Aug. 10, when he left the game with back spasms.
—Field Level Media