The Houston Astros enjoyed an abbreviated celebration on the field as the visitors at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday night. No, the World Series wasn’t over, but there was history to recognize.
After a dominant six-inning outing from starter Cristian Javier, three Astros relievers combined to finish off the second no-hitter in World Series history in Game 4. Defeating the Phillies 5-0, Houston evened the series, 2-2, and regained home-field advantage for the series.
If Philadelphia doesn’t reset quickly, an even bigger celebration could be coming this weekend at Minute Maid Park. But the Phillies are confident they can put the memorable night behind them.
“I really don’t give a shit,” Kyle Schwarber frankly told reporters, including Phillies Nation‘s Tim Kelly, following the game. “No, move on to tomorrow. It’s cool; we’ll be in the history books, I guess.”
The right-hander Javier struck out nine batters in his six no-hit innings, walking two batters in his 97 pitches. The Phillies were unable to catch up to his power repertoire as he simply overmatched the lineup throughout the start.
“It just has really good ride to it,” Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos said of Javier’s fastball. “It’s almost a pitch that you have to cheat to a little bit to be able to square it up. And by cheating to his fastball more — like exactly what happened in my first at-bat — you’re opening up to all his off-speed stuff.”
The Astros went to the bullpen in the seventh inning, with Bryan Abreu and Rafael Montero each throwing a perfect inning. Ryan Pressly walked Schwarber in the ninth, but ultimately completed the no-no.
“It is what it is,” Schwarber said. “It’s a loss. I really don’t know how to state that any more to people. It’s just a loss, and now it’s a race to two (wins). We’ll see what happens.”
It may only be one loss in a series of seven games, but the Phillies cannot afford to let it linger at this point. They remain at home for Game 5, but head back to Houston for Game 6 and a potential Game 7 this weekend. Taking this last one at Citizens Bank Park — the final act in what’s been a magical return to Red October — would be crucial.
The team is looking back to some previous experience to help it rebound.
“We were no-hit earlier in the year,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said in his postgame press conference, “in New York against the Mets. And we came back the next day and won. These guys, they got a short memory. They’re going to go home tonight, go to bed, come back in here tomorrow and compete like they always do.”
A lot has changed since Tylor Megill and company threw a combined no-hitter against the Phillies on April 29. The Phillies were 10-11, had a different manager and a few different regulars were in the lineup.
But after a summer of great baseball and an autumn of spectacular postseason play, the team hopes it can bounce back just the same against Justin Verlander in Game 5.
“Whatever has happened, happened,” Castellanos said. “Everything that is good is over with, and everything that is bad is over with. We’re just focused on tomorrow.
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