A day after the Philadelphia Phillies took home five home runs in game 3 of the World Series (7-0), the Houston Astros hit back hard. The champion of the American League didn’t give the home team a single hit last night and tied the score in the final of the American Championship (best-of-seven) with a convincing 5-0 win: 2-2.
Starting pitcher Cristian Javier (9 strikeouts in 6 innings) and relievers Rafael Montero, Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly wrote history at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The foursome, along with catcher Christian Vazquez, signed for the first combined no-hitter in World Series history.
Only once before, did a team not hit a single basehit in the World Series. In 1956, New York Yankees pitcher Don Larsen pitched a perfect game against the Brooklyn Dodgers. In the 118 episodes of the Fall Classic a no-hitter with multiple pitchers had not yet occurred.
The Astros’ victory came in the fifth inning in which the Texas team scored five runs. After Phillies-starter Aaron Nola loaded the bases and was substituted, things went wrong for the home team. Yordan Alvarez was hit by Nola’s replacement Jose Alvarado, who then gave up a double to Alex Bregman and sac-fly to Kyle Tucker and a single to Yuli Gurriel: 5-0.
It marked the end of game for Alvarado after one inning, but the Phillies were unable to repair the damage. Game 5 is scheduled for next night (1:03 a.m.). Again in Philadelphia. Game 6 (Saturday) and an eventual game 7 (Sunday) will be played in Houston.
The Astros are in the World Series for the fourth time in six years. They won in 2017. Philadelphia is in the final for the first time since 2009. Last year the title went to the Atlanta Braves.
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