No-no for Lo | Sports Daily Newsletter

Weston Wilson stepped up to the plate for his first MLB at-bat and launched a 1-1 curveball into the left-center seats.

And somehow, that wasn’t the biggest Phillies story line Wednesday night as the Phillies flattened the Washington Nationals, 7-0.

Michael Lorenzen, in his first start at Citizens Bank Park since being acquired at the trade deadline, induced a flyout to center to cap a 124-pitch no-hitter, the 14th in Phillies history and first since 2015. It’s also the first at home since Roy Halladay’s gem in 2010. Scott Lauber has the details on how Lorenzen’s historic night came to be.

Mike Sielski has the story behind the story from Lorenzen’s mother, who was on hand to witness her son’s feat and cheer along with the Phillies faithful.

Reactions on social media also added various takes on the achievement.

— Maria McIlwain, Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

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❓Does Lorenzen’s feat bring back memories of no-hitters past? Email us back for a chance to be featured in the newsletter.

Fresh off their appearance in Super Bowl LVII, the Eagles are officially back in action this Saturday for their first preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens. Join Eagles beat reporters Josh Tolentino and Olivia Reiner as they dissect the hottest story lines surrounding the team on GameDay Central, live from M&T Bank Stadium.

It’s not often that a guy making his major league debut at age 28 with his family in the stands hitting a home run in his first at-bat gets upstaged. But Weston Wilson can thank Michael Lorenzen and his no-no for that. It turns out Wilson had a feeling he was going to go deep in his first major league start after seven years in the minors.

By now, everybody knows about Trea Turner’s season-long slump and the standing ovation Phillies fans offered last week. In the 20 plate appearances that followed, the $300 million man hit .368 with four doubles, a home run, and six RBIs. Could that ovation have been just what Turner needed? Our Mike Sielski explores that question by looking back on a conversation with some of the people who know Turner best.

And on Wednesday, Turner returned to the leadoff spot after his uptick in production — but also out of necessity.

The Phillies’ Tom McCarthy delivered a pitch-perfect commentary on the Orioles suspending play-by-play announcer Kevin Brown.

Next: The Phillies wrap up their series against Washington at 6:40 p.m. Thursday (NBCSP). Aaron Nola (9-8, 4.58) will start against Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin (7-11, 5.03).

DeVonta Smith was excused from practice and attended the sentencing hearing in Las Vegas for his friend Henry Ruggs, the former Raiders wide receiver who pleaded guilty to felony DUI causing death and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. Smith and Ruggs were teammates at Alabama.

Meanwhile at practice, defensive coordinator Sean Desai’s defense was put to the test, and there also was a brief altercation between Derek Barnett and Landon Dickerson.

And new Eagles linebacker Myles Jack spoke about how before the team called, he was considering going to trade school.

“I don’t know, if a zombie apocalypse happens, I want to be able to build something or fix something,” he said.

Next: The Eagles practice today ahead of their preseason opener on Saturday at Baltimore.

You’ve caught the action, now flip through it! Score JALEN HURTS: RARE BIRD today. Catch 20-plus stories and 50-plus photos from the award-winning staff of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Brought to you by the expert sports reporters, editors, and photographers of The Inquirer.

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When Lionel Messi decided to make the move to Major League Soccer last month, Philadelphia soccer fans were dismayed to learn that the Argentine legend would not play in the Philadelphia area during the regular season.

But thanks to the new Leagues Cup format, Messi could be coming here after all. After the Union’s penalty shootout victory over the New York Red Bulls on Tuesday, Messi could line up at Subaru Park on Tuesday in the Leagues Cup semifinals. Here’s what needs to happen for the Union and Messi to meet.

The Union’s win over the Red Bulls marked their 11th game in a row unbeaten against their rivals. It also produced an all-time quote from coach Jim Curtin, who was not happy with the New Yorkers’ antics.

“Just be a little humble,” Curtin said. “When you’re the little brother, and you get beat up a lot, just know how to act.”

The two teams meet again on Sept. 3 at Subaru Park. 🍿

A month and half ago, the Flyers looked to have a deal in place to trade Tony DeAngelo to the Carolina Hurricanes for prospect Massimo Rizzo.

The NHL blocked the deal because of a little-known clause in the collective bargaining agreement, and the Flyers eventually elected to buy out DeAngelo on July 14. What followed was criticism of general manager Danny Brière for not getting anything in return for the veteran defenseman. Turns out, another move was coming, as the Flyers traded David Kaše to the Hurricanes on Wednesday for Rizzo and a fifth-round pick.

Given Kaše was likely never going to play for the Flyers again, this deal seems like a wink wink from the Hurricanes to thank the Flyers for buying out DeAngelo and saving them about $825,000 in salary. Meanwhile, Rizzo has had two productive college seasons at the University of Denver, where he was a teammate of Bobby Brink, and could be a nice find for a Flyers organization looking to stockpile offensive talent.

Dare to dream: Media is one win away from the Little League World Series.

Bet on it: Here’s when ESPN BET is set to launch.

Having Hart: A former Villanova standout is finalizing an extension with the New York Knicks.

We asked you: Has Schwarber earned the leadoff spot for the Phillies or should he be moved in the lineup? Among your responses:

I think the leadoff hitter should be someone who is a contact hitter, can get on base and is speedy. Schwarber is not that type of hitter. When he’s mashing taters, he’s great. When he’s not, he strikes out a lot or walks. He needs to be in the lineup where when he’s smashing the ball, he can do the most damage. The Phils have plenty of options for a leadoff hitter. — Kathy T.

Look he likes it. And not only that he is leadoff typically once in a game. Plus he gets a ton of walks, so he is on base. And yeah we’d all like to see fewer strikeouts. So would he. — Bill M.

Schwarber should be moved to 4 or 5 where his home runs will drive in more runs resulting in more RBIs. While his home runs at first at-bat are inspiring, they don’t drive in runs. Leadoff position is for getting on base, stealing bases, speed for taking extra base. None of which Schwarber is known for. His talent is being wasted at the leadoff spot. Just check his RBIs compared with the RBI leaders. The Phillies need run production, not just inspiration. — Bonnie S.

In my opinion who bats leadoff is much ado about nothing. The argument that his home runs wouldn’t be solo if he batted fifth or fourth is not logical for the following reasons: 1. Him leading off in an inning is guaranteed to happen only once in a game. In subsequent innings he might be in any sequence in the batting order. 2. By virtue of batting first to start game, it maximizes the probability of him having more at-bats than if he batted 4th or 5th 3. The bottom of Phil’s lineup has done a great job of getting on base when lineup turns over. Yesterday was great example in first game. — Ira F.

I know I am old school. I was in Philly in 1964, survived that time as a fan and have suffered and celebrated in Vermont with the Phillies since 1969. I know the Phillies have won with Schwarber at leadoff, but it just doesn’t make sense to me to have a guy batting .180 batting leadoff. The problem is, the Phillies don’t really have a great option to replace him with. If Turner had been anything close to his former self he would have been a perfect lead off hitter, but we all know that hasn’t been the case. Bohm has been great getting on base but he is too clutch as an RBI guy to bat him leadoff. Stott has also been a consistent get on base guy but I wouldn’t want to put him up there. Hopefully next year we can find a true leadoff hitter but for now I guess we have to stick with Schwarber. — Bill R.

I think Schwarber should be moved back in the lineup to #5th or #6th to increase his value for the Phillies. Despite all his homers, hehas too many hitless games, too many strike-outs, and way too low batting average to get as many at-bats as he does.Besides most of his homers are with no one on base, and if he were to bat further down the line-up, he’d likely drive in substantially more runs. Beyond that, a coach should work with him both on his fielding(if he’s not to be a DH) and baserunning decisions. He’s been caught off base too many times, and with the Phils’ mediocre offense this is something they can ill-afford. — Leon S.

Tough question regarding where Schwarber should bat. He is last in batting average and hits among the everyday players, but of course he is first in bases on balls and first in runs scored. Harper has the highest OBP, but of course you’re not going to bat him lead off. Marsh has the next highest and can run. I would lead off with Marsh, followed by Stott our leading hitter, then Harper 3rd, with Bohm our leading RBI producer and best clutch hitter batting clean-up. Then Castellanos, Schwarber, Realmuto, Turner, and Rojas. Interesting stat is that Turner even with all his struggles is 2nd in runs scored. — Everett S.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Mike Sielski, Alex Coffey, Scott Lauber, EJ Smith, Jeff McLane, Olivia Reiner, Gustav Elvin, Sapna Bansil, Giana Han, Matt Mullin, Isabella DiAmore, Devin Jackson, and Kerith Gabriel.