Eighty-five years ago, the Reds lefthander became the first (and only) ML pitcher to throw no-hitters in consecutive starts. Outside of Cincinnati, nobody remembers that he was only 15-10 for a fourth-place team.

To this date his feat is legendary and whenever a pitcher throws a complete-game, no-hitter everyone holds their breath until he allows his first hit in the next start. Rarely do people backtrack and look at the start before the no-hitter.

Two weeks ago, in his second start with the Phillies, Michael Lorenzen (a former Red )no-hit the Nationals. The HOF claimed the shoes he wore during the start, but unlike Frosty the Snowman, there was no magic in the hat he wore in his next two starts.

His next start was 9 days later and his second start earlier today. In 9 innings he allowed 10 earned runs on 14 hits and three home runs for a 10 ERA and one loss as of this posting Editor’s note: He’s currently on the hook for a loss to the Giants. Not every story has a happy ending despite his auspicious start with the Phillies. Editor’s note: In his start before the no-hitter, he outdueled Johnny Beisbol and the Marlins, pitching 8 innings of 2-run ball in a 4-2 win.

On June 20, 2015 Max Scherzer no-hit the Pirates, but the week before in Milwaukee he one-hit the Brewers. He was completely dominant, striking out 16 batters. The only hit was a leadoff single by Carlos Gomez in the bottom of the 7th inning. It was one of the more impressive pitching performances I’ve witnessed in person, but at the time none of us could have predicted that his next start would be a no-hitter. Someone else can do the research to see if that was the closest anyone has come to replicating Vander Meer’s feat.