Revisiting Cristian Javier’s Combined No-Hitter To Swing the World Series

Headed back to Houston up 3-2, the Astros are in the driver’s seat in the 2022 World Series. Were it not for Cristian Javier’s heroics in Game 4, the tide of the series may be entirely different.

After seeing how Game 5 unfolded, it cannot be emphasized enough what Javier and the bullpen did in Game 4. The Astros had to win Game 4 in Philadelphia to even have a shot at becoming 2022 World Champions. This team did just that, led by starting pitcher Cristian Javier and the most dominant start of his career. Houston threw the second no-hitter in World Series history, the other thrown by Don Larsen in 1956, which was a perfect game.

After a poor start from Lance McCullers Jr. in Game 3, Cristian Javier had no choice but to step up on the mound and put the team on his back. He started the game strong with an easy 1-2-3 inning in the first. He gave up a leadoff walk to Bryce Harper in the second, but comfortably got out of that minor situation. The only other baserunner allowed for Javier was Brandon Marsh, who had a 1-out walk in the third inning.

Cristian Javier continued to be dominant, but the Astros’ offense wasn’t doing much to help their ace, until they got things going in the fifth inning. Three straight singles off Aaron Nola led to him being pulled from the game for Jose Alvarado.

This left the bases loaded with no outs for power hitter Yordan Alvarez. Alvarado ended up hitting Alvarez and brought the first run of the game in, leaving the bases loaded and no outs. Alex Bregman then hit a two-run double to make it a 3-0 game, bringing all the momentum to Houston’s side. A sacrifice fly from Kyle Tucker and a rbi base hit from Yuli Gurriel followed, opening everything up and making the score 5-0.

Dusty Baker decided to pull Cristian Javier from the game after throwing 97 pitches, recording a final line of 6 IP, 0 ER, 9 K, and 2 BB. Bryan Abreu was the first reliever of the night for Houston. He struck out the side that included Realmuto, Harper, and Castellanos. Rafael Montero came in to pitch the 8th inning and had himself an easy inning, assuring the no-hitter got into the 9th inning.

Houston’s closer Ryan Pressly has been lights out this postseason and was able to complete the no-hitter, and most importantly tie the series up. He did just that by striking Brandon Marsh out, forcing Hoskins to line out after walking Schwarber, and then getting Realmuto to ground out to finish the ballgame.

The Houston Astros of Game 4 looked like the team we have been watching all year–flat-out dominant and a team that is not to be messed with. The heroics of Game 5 were legendary, but would not have been possible were it not for the legendary showing of Javier and the bullpen.