The Houston Astros defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 5-0 in Game 4 of the World Series on Wednesday night to level the series 2-2, and they did so in historic fashion — Houston starter Cristian Javier and three substitutes combined for just the second No hitters in World Series history.
Javier, the 25-year-old right-hander, worked the first six innings without conceding a hit. From there, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly threw the last three hitless frames to close out the bid. The joint effort is only the second no-hitter in World Series history and the first since Don Larsen’s perfect game for the Yankees in 1956. It is also the first MLB postseason no-hitter since Roy Halladay for the Phillies against the Reds in Game 1 of the 2010 NLDS.
Now for some takeaways for a night to remember in South Philly.
Javier was dominant
This wasn’t a case of a no-hit bid based on luck — Javier owned the Philly lineup in Game 4. In those six innings, he hit nine, walked two and spotted 63 of his 97 pitches for strikes. He triggered 25 breaths and so-called strikes. He also did an excellent job nipping contact off the bat as no Philly hitter managed a batted ball with an expected batting average north of .100 through the sixth inning.
Javier leaned heavily on his fastball in Game 4 as he threw the four-seamer 72 percent of the time. That firmly established foundation position allowed Javier to throw the Phillies off balance with some well-timed sliders. The slider was by far Javier’s best swing-and-miss offer in game 4, but it all worked.
This + Javier’s ALCS Gem vs the Yankees = History
In Javier’s final start this postseason, he tamed the Yankees by allowing runs zero on a hit in 5 1/3 innings. Unsurprisingly, this kind of relentless stinginess when it comes to allowing hits in back-to-back playoff starts has never been seen before:
The Phillies nearly broke it up in the eighth
With two outs in game eight, Philly’s Jean Segura vaulted over a first-pitch fastball from Montero and nearly broke the Astros’ date with history. Here’s a look:
That was a well-hit liner, to say the least, but unfortunately for Segura and the Phillies, Gold Glover Kyle Tucker got it right. As it turns out, that hit quality — meaning launch angle and exit speed (99 mph in Segura’s case) — is almost always a hit:
It wasn’t Wednesday night in Game 4, however. The Phillies’ second closest to a hit? That would be a hard hit grounder from Kyle Schwarber in the third inning who just fouled down the first baseline. Schwarber struck and looked into the bat.
Coincidences abound
If you’re looking for multiple examples of symmetry that indicate great design, then you’ve come to the right place. First, know that in 2022 alone, this isn’t the first time Javier has anchored a no-hitter, nor is it the first time this year that the Phillies have been on the wrong side of a combined no-hitter stand:
And who started for the Phillies when they didn’t get hit during the regular season? That would be Game 4 starter Aaron Nola:
Looking back to the Halladay no-hitter in 2010, the location of that no-hitter was Citizens Bank Park. The opposing manager in Halladay’s playoff no-hitter? That would be current Astros manager Dusty Baker.
It was a big win for the Astros
That no-no came in Houston’s biggest game of the season so far. A loss would have crushed them 3-1 in that best-of-seven series and historically gave them just a 17.9 percent chance of coming back and winning the series. Instead, Javier and Co. brought Houston to a 2-2 draw. That means it’s now essentially a best-of-three series and will host the Astros Game 6 and a potential Game 7. That’s a huge odds shift and redesigned the 2022 World Series.