Astros toss combined no-hitter in Game 4 vs. Phillies, make history after

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.

“I mean, it’s crazy,” Astros third baseman Alex Bregman said after the game, reflecting on the history his club’s pitchers made. “We grew up watching the World Series. We know the baseball’s been going on for a long, long time. So to be a part of, just be a teammate on a team that did that and what Javy and all the guys did is really special.”

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.

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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.

Javier now has a 0.71 ERA in 12 2/3 innings in the 2022 playoffs. And he may not be done. Baker said Javier could be available for two to three innings in Game 7 if the series stretches that far.

How Cristian Javier’s fastball flummoxed Phillies

He tamed the Phillies — who shelled Lance McCullers Jr. one night earlier in a Game 3 win — mostly with a fastball they may be seeing in nightmares. Out of Javier’s 97 pitches in Game 4, an astounding 70 were fastballs.

There are two things to understand about his devastating four-seamer: He throws it high. And to hitters, it looks like it’s rising as it approaches the plate.

That’s a much sought after combo in baseball. He achieves that with effective spin on the…