No-hitters in the World Series: Cristian Javier, Astros' bullpen combine for extremely rare feat vs. Phillies

Edward Sutelan

No-hitters in the World Series: Cristian Javier, Astros' bullpen combine for extremely rare feat vs. Phillies image

Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly have etched their names in baseball history.

On Wednesday, those Astros pitchers combined to no-hit the Phillies 5-0 in Game 4 of the 2022 World Series, tying the Fall Classic at two games apiece.

This game was more than just the Phillies getting no-hit. For the most part, they weren't even close to getting in the hit column. Against Javier, the Phillies' highest xBA (expected batting average) was .090 before the fifth inning, though three groundouts in the sixth had xBAs of .230, .280 and .320, according to Baseball Savant.

Jean Segura came the closest to getting a hit for the Phillies, as his eighth inning line drive to right field had an xBA of .910.

Where does this moment in history rank in baseball history? Here's a look.

MORE: Remembering the first no-hitter in World Series history

Has there ever been a no-hitter in the World Series?

The only other no-hitter in the World Series was the perfect game spun by Yankees right-hander Don Larsen in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Brooklyn won the next game but the Yankees won the deciding Game 7.

Wednesday's contest marked only the third time in the MLB postseason a team had thrown a no-hitter, and the first combined no-hitter. The Phillies were involved in the most recent no-hitter before Wednesday: Philadelphia ace Roy Halladay no-hit the Reds in Game 1 of the 2010 NLDS.

MORE: Astros complete combined no-hit bid against Phillies in Game 4

Longest no-hit bids by starting pitchers in the World Series

Javier pitched six no-hit innings against the Phillies on Wednesday, which was itself history. He joined Larsen as the only MLB pitcher to finish a World Series outing with at least six no-hit innings.

According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, it was the first individual no-hit bid in a World Series of at least six innings since the Mets' Jerry Koosman was hitless for the first six innings of Game 2 of the 1969 World Series against the Orioles.

A look at the other closest no-hit bids in World Series history, per Langs.

Edward Sutelan

Edward Sutelan Photo

Edward Sutelan joined The Sporting News in 2021 after covering high school sports for PennLive. Edward graduated from The Ohio State University in 2019, where he gained experience covering the baseball, football and basketball teams. Edward also spent time working for The Columbus Dispatch and Cape Cod Times.