Astros starting pitcher Cristian Javier and three Houston relief pitchers completed the first combined no-hitter in postseason history, shutting down the Phillies lineup in a 5-0 Astros victory in Game 4 on Wednesday in Philadelphia.
Javier joined former New York Yankees right-hander Don Larsen, who pitched a perfect game in 1956, as the only pitchers in Series history to complete a game with zero hits allowed in six or more innings.
“It’s funny, my parents told me I was going to throw a no-hitter,” Javier told MLB.com, “and thanks to God, I was able to accomplish that.”
Astros relief pitchers Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero, and Ryan Pressly assisted Javier in completing the no-hitter, which was the 19th combined no-no in AL/NL history. The victory tied the World Series at two games apiece.
Javier became the first hurler to start multiple combined no-hitters within a career and, remarkably, in the same season. Wednesday’s performance was a reenactment of the combined no-hitter he helped to compile against the Yankees on June 25. Javier is also the first pitcher since Jerry Koosman in 1969 to pitch six innings without allowing a hit in the World Series.
He set the tone for what turned into the third no-hitter in the 119-year history of Major League Baseball’s postseason and the second to occur at Citizens Bank Park. The first was Roy Halladay’s no-hitter in the 2010 National League Division Series against a Cincinnati Reds team led by current Astros manager Dusty Baker.
Javier gave up just two walks through the first six innings while striking out nine opponents. He started a run of five straight strikeouts at the top of the fourth inning. The pitcher, who had the lowest regular-season groundball rate in the majors among those who had thrown at least 140 innings, benefited from three straight groundouts in the sixth inning.
The Astros’ offense had already put up five runs by that point, all in the fifth when Jose Alvarado inherited a bases-loaded, no-out situation and promptly hit Yordan Alvarez for an automatic walk. He then allowed Alex Bregman to double in two runs, Kyle Tucker to sacrifice fly, and Yuli Gurriel to single in a run.
Despite facing the Phillies’ top of the order in the bottom of the seventh, Abreu struck out the side.
In the bottom of the eighth, Montero had a strikeout, a flyout, and a lineout, the final out coming on a line drive hit by Jean Segura to Kyle Tucker in right field at 99 mph.
As he did in late June, Pressly, the Astros’ dominant closer, worked around a walk to record three outs in the ninth inning on a strikeout of Brandon Marsh, a flyout of Rhys Hoskins, and finally, a groundout of J.T. Realmuto.
“We just stayed focused, just came out motivated after [Tuesday’s] loss,” Javier told MLB.com. “We had positive energy in the clubhouse. We told ourselves that we would come in today to win.”
Continuing this best-of-seven World Series showdown, the Phillies and Astros will face off in Game 5 on Thursday at Citizens Bank Park. The first pitch is set for 8:03 p.m. E.T., with Noah Syndergaard (1.69 ERA, 4K postseason) taking the mound for Philadelphia and Justin Verlander (7.2 ERA, 19K, postseason) starting for Houston.
