Baseball World Reacts to Astros' Game 4 No-Hitter vs. Phillies

Houston pulled off the improbable, throwing the second no-hitter in World Series history.

If a no-hitter takes more than one pitcher to complete, does a tree fall in the forest?

That might not be how the actual expression goes, but the topic of combined vs. solo no-hitters was much-discussed Wednesday night following the Astros’ combined no-no against the Phillies in Game 4 of the World Series. Houston used four pitchers to finish the job, leaning on Cristian Javier’s stellar six-inning, nine-strikeout effort.

The Astros went on to win, 5-0, to even the series at two games apiece.

After Javier was pulled with 97 pitches thrown, manager Dusty Baker leaned on Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly, who each worked one inning. The trio combined for five strikeouts in 10 batters faced. Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto was the last chance for the Phillies, but he grounded out to Astros third baseman Alex Bregman to end it.

THE ASTROS THROW A COMBINED NO-HITTER‼️#LevelUp | #WorldSeries

(🎥: @MLBONFOX) pic.twitter.com/LOuxYUwVwc

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) November 3, 2022

It was just the second no-hitter in World Series history and the third all-time in the postseason. The first was Don Larsen’s perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 Fall Classic. The second playoff no-hitter also took place in Philadelphia, with Roy Halladay no-hitting the Reds in Game 1 of the NLDS.

Unsurprisingly, the baseball world had plenty to say after the historic performance by the Astros’ pitching staff. Here are some of the best of the bunch from social media.

There hasn’t ever been a combined no-hitter in the postseason.

Even in the regular season, they’re about 374% less exciting than a regular no-no, though. https://t.co/k3RkbYfhP2

— Ryan Lawrence (@ryanlawrence21) November 3, 2022

I bought a sandwich at Wawa

Yet, I am still hungry

Now, why is that? https://t.co/PREpluUSEh pic.twitter.com/v8xIssW7XJ

— Joon Lee (@joonlee) November 3, 2022

Gonna walk into the crowd, ask a bunch of Phillies fans, "How exciting was it to see a no-hitter in a playoff game?" and get murdered.

— Stephanie Apstein (@stephapstein) November 3, 2022

A World Series no-hitter in Philly! pic.twitter.com/WRnUnggfUU

— Robert Ford (@raford3) November 3, 2022

There are just three postseason no-hitters. Manager Dusty Baker has now had one thrown at his team (Reds by Roy Halladay in 2010 NLDS) and one thrown by his team (Houston's combined effort in Game 4 of this World Series).

— Grant McAuley (@grantmcauley) November 3, 2022

Dusty leaving McCullers in there to die and justifying it by not wanting to tear up the bullpen only to have his next-game starter carry a no-hitter through six is very funny, to me

— Zander Craik, Doonhamer (@cdgoldstein) November 3, 2022

A World Series no-hitter. Man. Is it as cool as if it were just one pitcher and not several, no, is it still an extremely cool thing to witness, hell yes it is.

— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) November 3, 2022

The combined no-hitter gang.

Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly.@astros #LevelUp #WorldSeries #MLB

📸: @NwachukwuTim pic.twitter.com/oNOVD6BvSn

— Getty Images Sport (@GettySport) November 3, 2022

Babe, you haven't touched your special Schwarberfest hoagie from Wawa, what's wrong https://t.co/oLpbCli6Oj

— Emma Baccellieri (@emmabaccellieri) November 3, 2022

Combined no-hitters are stupid.

— ByMattMartell (@ByMattMartell) November 3, 2022

Say what you will but 99.99999% of us have also never surrendered a hit in the World Series 🤷‍♂️

— Robert Stock (@RobertStock6) November 3, 2022

the phillies truly living out that "that book/sign can't stop me, I can't read" life is easily the best part of this run https://t.co/p2wk9LM8nE

— Zander Craik, Doonhamer (@cdgoldstein) November 3, 2022

Yogi Berra and Christian Vazquez are the only catchers to catch a no-hitter in the World Series.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) November 3, 2022

these are the best jerseys in sports history and I am 300% more excited to see these than I am for a combined no-hitter https://t.co/Ys1h85BdGY

— Brandon McCarthy (@BMcCarthy32) November 3, 2022