Categories: 2022 Postgame Recaps

Astros combine to no-hit Phillies, tying up World Series at 2-2

Bryce Harper, like every other Phillie, was hitless in Game 4. (Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire)

Final score: Astros 5, Phillies 0

The Phillies have fed off their home crowd all postseason. They did it the entire path to the World Series, and they continued it in Game 3. The idea of clinching a title at home felt no longer like a pipe dream, but instead realistic.

No crowd was stopping Cristian Javier in Game 4. No crowd was stopping history.

Javier — as talented as some aces, but a Game 4 starter due to an overload of depth — carved the Phillies up through six hitless innings, and the Astros’ electric bullpen finished off the combined no-hitter for the first World Series no-no since Don Larsen’s 1956 perfect game.

It was the first combined or individual postseason no-hitter since Roy Halladay’s in 2010 — against Dusty Baker’s Reds. Two of the three times a team has been held hitless in a playoff game, it occurred at Citizens Bank Park.

The conversation surrounding Game 4 will accordingly center on history. But more importantly, as far as the present is concerned, it tied the Fall Classic at two games apiece.

When the Phillies left town Sept. 25, there was a reasonable chance Citizens Bank Park had just hosted its final game of 2022. Instead, that final game will be a pivotal Game 5 on Thursday, the first leg of a best-of-three to decide the World Series.

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Aaron Nola looked sharp early, using an effective breaking ball to earn back-to-back strikeouts with a runner on third in the second and ultimately keep the Astros scoreless through four.

But after Javier struck out the side in the bottom of the fourth, Nola’s evening went south the next half inning. He allowed three straight singles to open the fifth — two on curveballs — and his night was abruptly over.

Largely as a result of Game 3’s 7-0 win, Rob Thomson could empty his bullpen in Game 4, so he summoned José Alvarado to limit the damage.

Limit the damage, he did not.

His first pitch of the night drilled Yordan Álvarez at 99 mph, forcing in a run.

It was only the tip of the iceberg. Alex Bregman followed with a two-run double to right with the count 0-2, extending Houston’s lead to three.

Kyle Tucker then scored the Astros’ fourth run with a sacrifice fly, and Yuli Gurriel’s RBI single made it a five-run inning.

“More than enough” is an understatement. If Javier’s exit after six provided a jolt, Bryan Abreu killed it immediately by striking out the side in the seventh. Rafael Montero fired a 1-2-3 eighth, and Ryan Pressly finished off history.

It was the first home loss this postseason for the Phillies, who, entering the night at 7-0, were threatening to become the first team to go 9-0 at home in a single postseason.

The bad news for the Phillies: They’re now forever a part of inglorious history. The good news: The series is only tied, and they have a chance to get back in the win column — and the hit column — at home in a swing Game 5.

Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance

Whereas Nola’s curveball was his best weapon the first four innings, he failed to get the pitch down in the fifth, allowing hits on breaking balls in the zone to McCormick and Peña that forced his departure. José Alvarado wasn’t able to save his line, but seven hits in four innings isn’t pretty anyway. It’s the third straight rough outing for Nola after three straight dominant ones.

The Phillies — specifically, the top of the lineup — have hit fastballs well all season, but they were helpless against Javier’s heater on Wednesday. If this game was in August (and his pitch count was lower), Javier would’ve had a chance at his own history. Six hitless innings, and two-thirds of combined history, will have to do.

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