The Houston Astros combine to no-hit Phillies in Game 4 of World Series, Twitter Reacts

The Houston Astros combine to no-hit Phillies in Game 4 of World Series on Wednesday night.  Twitter reacts!

Cristian Javier and three Astros relievers (Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero, and Ryan Pressly) combined to throw the second no-hitter in World Series history, as the Astros blanked the Phillies 5-0 Wednesday night to even the series at two games apiece.

Wednesday’s no-hitter was just the third in MLB postseason history. Two of them have come at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

No-Hitters in MLB Postseason History

Location

2022 Astros combined Citizens Bank Park
2010 Roy Halladay Citizens Bank Park
1956 Don Larsen Yankee Stadium

Cristian Javier and the Astros also threw a combined no-hitter against the Yankees on June 25, making Houston the first team in MLB history to throw multiple combined no-hitters in a season. Both of them were started and finished by the same pitchers.  Javier joined Don Larsen as the only pitchers in World Series history to finish an outing with no hits allowed in six or more innings.  Javier finished with nine strikeouts, tied for the most strikeouts in a World Series game in Astros history.

While the Astros became the first team in MLB history to throw two combined no-hitters in one season, the Phillies became just the second team to be on the other side twice in one year (2019 Mariners). The Mets threw a combined no-hitter against the Phillies on April 29.

Aaron Nola was the Phillies starting pitcher for both of the combined no-hitters thrown against Philadelphia this season. He joins Zach Plesac (3x in 2021) and Jim Perry (2x in 1973) as the only pitchers to have started multiple games where their team was no-hit in a single season, including postseason.  The Game 4 loss marked the Phillies first loss at Citizens Bank Park this postseason.

The Game 5 winner of a best-of-7 postseason series tied 2-2 has gone on to win the series 70.3 percent of the time (45-19).

Tonight, the Phillies and Astros will be playing Game 5 in Philadelphia while the Eagles and Texans will be playing at the same time in Houston. There have been 155 instances of a World Series game and an NFL game being played on the same day. Thursday will be the seventh where both games involve teams from the same metro area.  Will preview this on Shemon and Sheppard 2-6pm today.

The Philadelphia  Phillies beat the Astros 7-0 Tuesday to take a 2-1 series lead in the World Series. The seven runs came via five Phillies homers.  That matches a World Series record for home runs in a game. But, of the four teams to do it, the Phillies were the only one to go deep five times in the first five innings of the game.

All five home runs came off Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr. The right-hander became the first pitcher in MLB history to surrender five home runs in a postseason game. In fact, with one outing, McCullers already matched a record for most home runs allowed in a single World Series. Lew Burdette (three appearances in 1958) and Dick Hughes (two appearances in 1967) both allowed five across multiple outings of their respective World Series. McCullers didn’t allow any home runs in his first two World Series starts back in 2017.

Four of the five home runs McCullers allowed Tuesday came on off speed pitches. Two off sliders, one on a curveball and another on a changeup. Prior to Tuesday, McCullers hadn’t given up a single home run on 651 off speed pitches thrown this season (regular season and playoffs).

With the win, the Phillies improved to 6-0 at Citizens Bank Park this postseason. They’re the eighth team to start a postseason with at least six straight wins at home. The Phillies have outscored teams 42-15. Matching the best run differential (+27) ever in a team’s first six home games of a postseason (1987 Twins).

The Phillies have hit 17 home runs in six games at Citizens Bank Park this month. It’s the most home runs by any team in any six-game span at home in postseason history. It’s also the most home runs the Phillies have ever hit in any six-game span at Citizens Bank Park, which opened in 2004.

The Phillies are now 22-9 (.710) all-time at Citizens Bank Park in the playoffs. The best home record by any team at a single park in postseason history (min. 20 games).

How big was Tuesday’s win for the Phillies? Nineteen of the last 24 Game 3 winners of a tied World Series have gone on to win it (79%). Now, the Phillies will look to take a commanding 3-1 series lead on Wednesday. Teams that lead 3-1 in a best-of-7 World Series are 41-6 (.872) all-time. The last to overcome that deficit was the 2016 Cubs against Cleveland.