Incredible facts and stats about the Astros' Game 4 no-hitter
Sarah Langs
@SlangsOnSportsWorld Series Game 4 was unlike any other game in postseason history. It was the third postseason no-hitter, joining Roy Halladay¡¯s in the 2010 NLDS and Don Larsen¡¯s perfect game in the 1956 World Series, but the first combined no-no in the playoffs. Despite that fact, though, it had an air of familiarity. Cristian Javier starts, Ryan Pressly pitches last? We've seen this movie before.
Very recently, in fact, as Houston, led by Javier, H¨¦ctor Neris and Pressly, combined to no-hit the Yankees on June 25. With Wednesday's 5-0 win over the Phillies to even the World Series at 2-2, the Astros became the first team with two combined no-hitters in a season (including the postseason) -- but again, it wasn¡¯t just the feat itself that was amazing, but the specific cast of characters that made it happen.
This was the 19th combined no-hitter in AL/NL history. Before Wednesday, the 18 combined no-hitters had involved 62 different pitchers. Javier and Pressly are the first pitchers to be part of two combined no-nos in a career, let alone a season -- and they did it by starting and finishing the same two no-hitters.
This time, it was six innings from Javier, followed by one apiece by Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Pressly.
Here¡¯s a look at eight stats and facts from the second no-hitter in World Series history.
? Javier¡¯s outing was one of 10 individual no-hit bids in World Series history of at least six innings, and the first since Jerry Koosman in Game 2 of the 1969 World Series. Javier is the only one of those pitchers to be removed from the game before either losing the bid or completing it. As a result, Javier joined Larsen (in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series) as the only pitchers with a hitless start of at least six innings in a Fall Classic. Of course, this all comes with a big grain of salt -- as Larsen actually completed an entire perfect game. But Javier¡¯s teammates completed what he started in Wednesday's Game 4.
? Javier has been almost untouchable this postseason, allowing just one run on a Eugenio Su¨¢rez homer in ALDS Game 1 in relief. That home run is one of two hits he¡¯s allowed across 12 2/3 innings. He¡¯s faced 44 batters, and opponents are 2-for-39. That¡¯s an .051 opponents' batting average, which would be the second-lowest in a single postseason behind only Larsen's .031 in 1956 (minimum 10 innings).
? The Astros held the Phillies to an .081 expected batting average, based on quality of contact plus strikeouts, the lowest in a postseason game tracked by Statcast (since 2015). Jean Segura¡¯s eighth-inning lineout had a .910 xBA, highest of any batted ball in the game by either team, but the next-highest figure off a Phillies bat was .320 on Kyle Schwarber¡¯s sixth-inning groundout.
??? Houston manager Dusty Baker has seen plenty in his storied baseball life, and this no-hitter certainly deserves space on the list. As noted above, there have now been three postseason no-nos. One was Larsen's in 1956, and the other two have both involved Baker. In 2010, it was Baker¡¯s Reds who failed to get a hit against Halladay in NLDS Game 1. This time, he was in the visiting dugout again -- but on the winning side.
? Speaking of parallels, from Javier and Pressly to Baker, Citizens Bank Park has now hosted two of the three postseason no-hitters. And to make matters even more intriguing, there¡¯s been just one regular-season no-hitter at the ballpark since it opened in 2004: Josh Beckett¡¯s for the Dodgers in 2014.
? But wait, there¡¯s yet another connection to note. This was the second time the Phillies were no-hit in 2022. On April 29 against the Mets in New York, five pitchers combined to keep Philly hitless. Philadelphia's starting pitcher in that one? Aaron Nola, who also started Game 4.
Nola became the third pitcher to start multiple games where his team was no-hit in a single season (including postseason), joining the Guardians' Zach Plesac in 2021, with three such games, and the Tigers' Jim Perry in 1973, with two, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
? The Phillies¡¯ offense was held silent just one day after tying a World Series record with five home runs. They became the first team in AL/NL history to hit at least five homers in one game and then be no-hit the next, in the regular season or postseason, according to STATS.
? It isn¡¯t just Game 4, though. Starting with the last two innings of Game 3, the Astros have now thrown 11 consecutive no-hit frames, tied with the 1939 Yankees for the longest such streak in a World Series, according to Elias. That's an active streak entering Game 5 -- something to keep an eye on as this series continues.