The Astros made history in Game 4 of the World Series in Wednesday night’s 5–0 victory, tossing the first combined no-hitter in World Series history. As far as no-hitters in the Fall Classic overall, the feat is incredibly rare.
In total, there have now been only two no-hitters ever in the World Series and three all-time in the postseason. The first came in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series, when Don Larsen threw a perfect game against the Dodgers at Yankee Stadium. Larsen needed just 97 pitches to accomplish his perfecto—the same number of tosses Houston starter Cristian Javier threw on Wednesday to get through six innings.
The other postseason no-hitter was also thrown at Citizens Bank Park when Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay no-hit the Reds in Game 1 of the NLDS. The manager for Cincinnati that night? Dusty Baker, current skipper for the Astros.
Javier struck out nine batters with just two walks before giving way to Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly, who each worked an inning. That trio combined for five strikeouts in 10 batters faced.
The Phillies’ bats were stymied all night Wednesday. Following Bryce Harper’s leadoff walk in the third inning, they didn’t have a baserunner until Kyle Schwarber walked with one out in the ninth. Of the nine balls they put in play against Javier, six had expected batting averages below .100. Abreu, Montero and Pressly combined for five strikeouts in 10 batters faced.
Catcher J.T. Realmuto represented the last chance for the Phillies, but he grounded out to Astros third baseman Alex Bregman to end it.
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