Four Astros pitchers combine to throw second no-hitter in World Series history
In the 118-year history of the World Series, only the late New York Yankees hurler, Don Larsen, in 1956, had thrown a no-hitter in the Fall Classic.
That is until Wednesday's Game 4 between the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies.
Four Houston Astros pitchers, Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero, and Ryan Pressly, combined to no-hit the Phillies in a 5-0 win, evening the World Series at two games apiece.
Pressly entered in the ninth, working around a one-out walk before forcing a flyout by Rhys Hoskins and a groundout by J.T. Realmuto to seal the no-no.
Javier led the charge in Game 4, dazzling on the mound through six innings. The 25-year-old struck out nine on the night, with two free passes being the only blemishes on his line.
Abreu took over in the seventh and picked up where Javier left off. Abreu kept the crowd at Citizens Bank Park quiet, striking out the side to send the game to the eighth, no-hitter intact.
Houston turned to Montero in the eighth, who retired the Phillies in order, allowing the Astros to give the ball to their closer, Pressly, in the ninth.
While the Astros' pitching staff nullified the Phillies' bats, a five-run inning from Houston's offense is all they'd need to take Game 4.
The Astros kicked off the inning by chasing Phillies' starter Aaron Nola from the game, thanks to three straight singles from Chas McCormick, Jose Altuve, and Jeremy Pena.
With the no outs and the bases juiced, the Astros got on the board first after Phillies' reliever Jose Alvarado plunked Yordan Alvarez with the first pitch he threw out of the pen to force in a run.
From there, things unraveled quickly for the Phils'.
Bregman followed with an opposite-field double, scoring Altuve and Pena to make it 3-0 Astros.
After a Kyle Tucker sacrifice fly gave Houston a 4-0 advantage, Yuli Gurriel singled hope Bregman to cap off the five-run fifth.
The series, now knotted up at 2-2, continues with Game 5 on Thursday at 8:03 p.m. Justin Verlander will take the ball for the Astros, while Noah Syndergaard will take the hill for the Phillies.
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