World Series: Astros toss combined no-hitter in Game 4 vs. Phillies, make history after brilliant Cristian Javier start

The Houston Astros — led by starter Cristian Javier — have thrown the second no-hitter in World Series history. Javier and three relief pitchers combined to blank the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 4 Wednesday night, 5-0, and pull Houston even in the series in historic fashion.

The combined no-no joins Don Larsen’s perfect game for the 1956 New York Yankees in World Series lore. It is the third postseason no-hitter, and comes in the same ballpark as the second: Roy Halladay’s NLDS no-no for the Phillies in 2010.

Javier, the preternaturally calm 25-year-old Astros starter, fired six no-hit innings to help Houston quiet the Philadelphia crowd and rebound from a rough Game 3, striking out nine and walking two. After 97 pitches, manager Dusty Baker shook his hand and turned to the bullpen. Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly each pitched an inning to close it out. Overall, the Astros struck out 14 Phillies and retired 18 in a row between walks in the third and ninth innings.

Cristian Javier has a star turn on World Series stage

Javier will cap his first full season as a major-league starter by entering the record books as the author of the longest hitless World Series start outside of Larsen’s perfecto.

He eclipses Atlanta Braves pitcher Ian Anderson, who went five innings without allowing a hit in 2021’s World Series Game 3 against the Astros. The Braves bullpen eventually allowed the first hit leading off the eighth.

This was no fluke, either. Javier tossed seven spotless frames to start a combined no-hitter against the Yankees earlier this season, and allowed the lowest batting average in baseball in the second half among starting pitchers.

The Phillies were also victims of a combined no-hitter earlier this year, going hitless against the New York Mets in April.

Coming off a major breakout that established him as a bonafide starter, Javier is nicknamed “El Reptil” — The Reptile — because early in his career coaches deemed him cold-blooded, a descriptor that now seems particularly apt. After the game, Javier told Ken Rosenthal his parents had assured him he would throw a hitter.

He tamed the Phillies — who shelled Lance McCullers Jr. one night earlier in a Game 3 win — mostly with his fastball. He whips it high in the zone, creating the feeling that it’s rising. Then he plays off it with a biting slider and the occasional curveball. Out of Javier’s 97 pitches in Game 4, 70 were fastballs.

And that may not be the last we see of him. Baker said Javier could be available for two to three innings in Game 7 if the series stretches that far.

Behind the plate, Christian Vazquez got just his second postseason start as Astros catcher, and first since ALCS Game 3. A trade deadline acquisition from the Boston Red Sox, Vazquez had served as Boston’s primary catcher during their championship run in 2018. He’s now in an exclusive club with Yogi Berra as backstop who called World Series no-hitters.

Astros ensure World Series will end in Houston

All of Houston’s runs came in the fifth inning. They chased Phillies starter Aaron Nola by lashing three straight singles. When Phillies relief star Jose Alvarado came in, he plunked Yordan Alvarez to drive in the first run, then Alex Bregman followed with a two-RBI double.

The Astros win guarantees the series will return to Houston, requiring at least six games to crown a champion. Three of the last four World Series have ended in Houston, and the one that didn’t was 2020’s neutral site Fall Classic in Arlington, Texas.

Game 5 will still be in Philadelphia, though.

The Phillies struck a defiant tone after the no-no, saying they are turning the page. Asked about the dubious feat, leadoff man and clubhouse leader Kyle Schwarber told reporters, “I really don’t give a s***. I guess we’ll be in the history books.”

In Game 5, Astros ace Justin Verlander will take on the Phillies’ Noah Syndergaard, likely with a heavy dose of the bullpen. That starts Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.