Javier’s gem leads Astros to historic night, evens series

The Houston Astros made World Series history on Wednesday night, throwing a combined no-hitter in a dominant 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. This was especially impressive considering Philly’s incredible home run barrage in Game 3.

The series is tied at 2-2. The Phillies have one more home game before they travel to Houston to decide the World Series. Here are the highlights and key takeaways from Game 4.

Game 4 takeaways

Don Larsen no longer owns the only no-hitter in World Series history.

The Astros combined to no-hit the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 4, riding off of six dominant innings from Cristian Javier and a combined relief effort from Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly. The Phillies only managed two base runners in Bryce Harper and Brandon Marsh, who each walked off of Javier. Javier finished the night with six innings pitched while striking out nine batters, throwing 97 pitches and 63 for strikes, relying on the combination of a four-seam fastball and a slider.

Meanwhile, the Astros offense came alive after being shut out in Game 3. Houston scored all five runs without the long ball, with Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker and Yuli Gurriel all tallying RBIs. Phillies starter Aaron Nola looked strong through the first four innings, but made a handful of mistakes in the fifth, when Houston scored all of itsr runs. Nola finished the night with a solid four-inning performance, allowing just three runs on seven hits and striking out four. — Joon Lee

The no-no by the numbers

This is the 19th combined no-hitter in MLB history, and the first in the playoffs, according to ESPN Stats and Information. The Astros had the last combined regular-season no-no on June 25 of this season against the New York Yankees — Javier also started that game. Going back to Game 3, they’ve now thrown 11 straight no-hit innings, tying the 1939 Yankees for the longest postseason streak ever. The Phillies made history by making the longest postseason streak in MLB history. They have now thrown consecutive no-hit innings.

Citizens Bank Park has been the home of two of the three no-hitters in MLB’s postseason history. Dusty Baker was on the wrong side of Roy Halladay’s no-no in Game 1 of the NLDS as manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

Javier’s big night

Pure domination. Absolute filth.

The Phillies had no answer against Houston Astros starter Cristian Javier, who no-hit Philadelphia during his six innings on the mound in Game 4. Javier finished the night after 97 pitches, striking out nine batters while walking two. The World Series started marked the continuation of a remarkable postseason for Javier. He entered the evening with one run allowed in six innings and had two appearances in the American League Division Division and Championship Series.

Javier primarily relied on his fastball and his slider throughout the evening, tossing his four-seamer 72 percent of the time and his slider 26 percent. The Phillies struggled to generate hard contact all night, with just two balls hit over 90 mph, both groundouts in the sixth by Brandon Marsh and Kyle Schwarber. Philadelphia’s offensive struggles contrasted starkly with its Game 3 performance, which scored seven runs on five homers.

To replace Javier, Astros manager Dusty Baker brought in Bryan Abreu, who continued the no-hit bid with a scoreless seventh inning by striking out the side. — Lee

He’s that jawn. pic.twitter.com/EL4uFHD56W

— Houston Astros (@astros) November 3, 2022

Houston heats up

Phillies starter Aaron Nola held the Astros scoreless through four innings, but in the fifth inning, the dam broke.

Houston scored five runs in the fifth, taking a 5-0 lead with Astros starter Cristian Javier carrying a no-hitter through four innings.

Keep fightin’. pic.twitter.com/FpNFS95cug

— Houston Astros (@astros) November 3, 2022

We got 5 on it. pic.twitter.com/CEKGTOwque

— Houston Astros (@astros) November 3, 2022

The offensive onslaught started with a Chas McCormick single off of Nola followed by two more singles by Astros second baseman Jose Altuve and shortstop Jeremy Pena. With the bases loaded and no outs, Phillies manager Rob Thomson removed Nola from the game, bringing in lefty fireballing reliever Jose Alvarado.

But Alvarado immediately got off to a rough start, hitting Yordan Alvarez with a pitch, scoring McCormick to give Houston its first run of the night. Things only got worse from there for Philadelphia as Astros third baseman Alex Bregman knocked a double to right field, scoring Altuve and Pena and extending Houston’s lead to 3-0. With both inherited runners scoring Nola’s final pitching performance was four innings with three earned runs, seven hits, four walks, and four strikeouts. But the damage didn’t end with Bregman. Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker knocked a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Alvarez and moving Bregman to third base. Yuli Gurriel kept the offensive roll going, knocking a single into left field to score Bregman and extending Houston’s lead to 5-0. While Alvarado struck out Christian Vazquez and Aldemys Diaz to end the inning, the damage was done. — Joon Lee

Jayme Hoskins buys more beer for fans

Beer is on the Hoskins family. Jayme Hoskins, wife of Phillies’ first baseman Rhys, tweeted a request for fans to meet her at Citizens Bank Park for beer.

if you know anything about baseball and it’s quirks then you know where beers are about to be

— jayme (@jaymehoskins) November 2, 2022

Fans responded by meeting Hoskins and getting some beverages for the game.

The move from Hoskins followed up Game 3 when she bought a case of 50 beers for fans. — Lee

Pregame fashion

Ready to get to work pic.twitter.com/YurcI0908i

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) November 2, 2022

Hey guys pic.twitter.com/i0Sg6Tvwup

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) November 2, 2022