Christian Javier was unhittable on Wednesday night for the Houston Astros, but the team robbed fans of the opportunity to potentially witness a historic moment.
Javier pitched six no-hit innings while walking two and striking out nine in his team’s 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 4 of the World Series. The Astros used different relievers in the 7th, 8th and 9th, and none of their relievers allowed a hit.
Fox’s crew boasted about the Astros throwing a combined no-hitter. Reporter Ken Rosenthal said that “baseball fans will remember this night forever.”
That’s the thing. When a pitcher is pulled after six innings and four total combine on the no-hitter, it’s no longer special. Combined no-hitters just aren’t memorable. The accomplishment is only meaningful when one pitcher does it, not multiple pitchers, much less four.
The Astros dominated the Phillies and turned the series around after Game 3 went the complete opposite way. But let’s not make this into something that it wasn’t. It wasn’t history. It wasn’t a special night.
It was a great outing by Javier that was spoiled when the Astros pulled him and didn’t allow him a chance to produce a truly memorable game for the fans.
The Astros got the dominant win and evened the series. They’re closer to winning the championship. But MLB remains further from its roots and the special accomplishments that made the game so much fun to watch and follow when pitchers are pulled from no-hitters in the World Series after just six innings.
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