There’s a saying about baseball in the postseason: good pitching beats good hitting. But sometimes, it turns out, you can win with both.
The MLB’s Houston Astros pulled off what can only be seen as a team win on Wednesday night in Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park, with a remarkable, historic no-hitter in Game 4 of the World Series, against a Philadelphia Phillies team that stunned them the previous night.
Tuesday’s matchup in Game 3 featured the bats of the latter punishing the Astros’ starting pitcher, Lance McCullers, with the most homers ever scored against one pitcher in Series history; they garnered seven hits in the game, and five of them were the long ball. The Astros, meanwhile, went scoreless.
A win on Wednesday for the Phillies would have all but closed the door on the Astros’ chances. But fate had other plans, it seems.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cristian Javier and Houston’s bullpen combined on just the second no-hitter in World Series history, silencing a booming lineup and boisterous ballpark as the Astros blanked the Philadelphia Phillies 5-0 Wednesday night to even the matchup at two games each.
The only previous no-hitter in the World Series was a perfect game by Don Larsen of the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1956.
This wasn’t the only no-hitter Javier was a part of this season, though. On June 26, the starting pitcher went seven innings against the New York Yankees, according to CBS Sports:
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Three Houston Astros pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter against the Yankees on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. Starting pitcher Cristian Javier went seven hit-less innings before turning things over to the bullpen in a 3-0 win. It’s the 14th no-no in franchise history.
…
The Astros needed every bit of Javier’s work, too, as they held a 2-0 lead. They got a solo home run from J.J. Matijevic in the top of the seventh inning and Jose Altuve provided insurance with a solo blast in the eighth.
But all of the talk tonight is about the history that was made in Philadelphia — where, before tonight’s game, the Phillies had not lost in the postseason (6-0). Here was the historic moment Wednesday, in case you missed it:
The Astros have completed the World Series no hitter! Amazing! pic.twitter.com/5U0b83ZZso
— Weather and TV Analyst (@sportsontvguy) November 3, 2022
As I mentioned, the door didn’t close on the Astros. The win here insures the series will return to their home ballpark, Minute Maid Park, with the World Series now tied at two games a piece.
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