The Philadelphia Phillies are coming off a game in which they absolutely hammered the Houston Astros to take a 2-1 lead in the World Series.
Philadelphia jumped on Lance McCullers Jr. and never let up in the 7-0 victory Tuesday night, mashing five home runs off him to tie a World Series record for most home runs off single pitcher in a Fall Classic. Next, Cristian Javier will try to quiet down Philly’s monstrous bats in Game 4 on Wednesday night and prevent the Phillies from taking one step closer to one of the biggest upsets in World Series history.
Here are the best moments from Game 4.
Javier’s big night
Pure domination. Absolute filth.
The Phillies had no answer against Houston Astros starter Cristian Javier, who no-hit Philadelphia during his six innings on the mound in Game 4. Javier finished the night after 97 pitches, striking out nine batters while walking two.
The World Series start marked the continuation of an incredible postseason for Javier, who entered the evening allowing just one run in 6 2/3 innings pitched across two appearances in the American League Division and Championship Series.
Javier primarily relied on his fastball and his slider throughout the evening, tossing his four-seamer 72 percent of the time and his slider 26 percent. The Phillies struggled to generate hard contact all night, with just two balls hit over 90 mph, both groundouts in the sixth by Brandon Marsh and Kyle Schwarber. The offensive struggles for Philadelphia contrasted dramatically with its performance in Game 3, when it scored seven runs on five homers.
To replace Javier, Astros manager Dusty Baker brought in Bryan Abreu, who continued the no-hit bid with a scoreless seventh inning by striking out the side. — Joon Lee
He’s that jawn. pic.twitter.com/EL4uFHD56W
— Houston Astros (@astros) November 3, 2022
Houston heats up
Phillies starter Aaron Nola held the Astros scoreless through four innings, but in the fifth inning, the dam broke.
Houston scored five runs in the fifth, taking a 5-0 lead with Astros starter Cristian Javier carrying a no-hitter through four innings.
Keep fightin’. pic.twitter.com/FpNFS95cug
— Houston Astros (@astros) November 3, 2022
We got 5 on it. pic.twitter.com/CEKGTOwque
— Houston Astros (@astros) November 3, 2022
The offensive onslaught started with a Chas McCormick single off of Nola followed by two more singles by Astros second baseman Jose Altuve and shortstop Jeremy Pena. With the bases loaded and no outs, Phillies manager Rob Thomson removed Nola from the game, bringing in lefty fireballing reliever Jose Alvarado.
But Alvarado immediately got off to a rough start, hitting Yordan Alvarez with a pitch, scoring McCormick to give Houston its first run of the night. Things only got worse from there for Philadelphia as Astros third baseman Alex Bregman knocked a double to right field, scoring Altuve and Pena and extending Houston’s lead to 3-0.
With both inherited runners scoring, Nola’s final pitching line was four innings pitched with three earned runs on seven hits, no walks and four strikeouts.
But the damage did not end with Bregman. Astros outfielder Kyle Tucker knocked a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Alvarez and moving Bregman to third base. Yuli Gurriel kept the offensive roll going, knocking a single into left field to score Bregman and extending Houston’s lead to 5-0. While Alvarado struck out Christian Vázquez and Aldemys Díaz to end the inning, the damage was done. — Joon Lee
Jayme Hoskins buys more beer for fans
Beer is on the Hoskins family.
Before Game 4 of the World Series, Jayme Hoskins — wife of Phillies first baseman Rhys — tweeted out a call for fans to meet her for beer at Citizens Bank Park.
if you know anything about baseball and it’s quirks then you know where beers are about to be
— jayme (@jaymehoskins) November 2, 2022
Fans responded by meeting Hoskins and getting some beverages for the game.
The move from Hoskins followed up Game 3 when she bought a case of 50 beers for fans. — Lee
Pregame fashion
Ready to get to work pic.twitter.com/YurcI0908i
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) November 2, 2022
Hey guys 👋 pic.twitter.com/i0Sg6Tvwup
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) November 2, 2022
Game 4 lineups and pitchers
Starters: Cristian Javier (11-9, 148.2 IP, 2.54 ERA, 194 K) vs. Aaron Nola (11-13, 205 IP, 3.25 ERA, 235 K)
Houston Astros
1. Jose Altuve (R) 2B (.300 AVG, 28 HR, .921 OPS)
2. Jeremy Pena (R) SS (.253 AVG, 22 HR, .715 OPS)
3. Yordan Alvarez (L) DH (.306 AVG, 37 HR, 1.019 OPS)
4. Alex Bregman (R) 3B (.259 AVG, 23 HR, .820 OPS)
5. Kyle Tucker (L) RF (.257 AVG, 30 HR, .808 OPS)
6. Yuli Gurriel (R) 1B (.242 AVG, 8 HR, .647 OPS)
7. Christian Vasquez (R) C (.274 AVG, 9 HR, .714 OPS)
8. Aledmys Diaz (R) C (.243 AVG, 12 HR, .691 OPS)
9. Chas McCormick (R) CF (.245 AVG, 14 HR, .738 OPS)
Philadelphia Phillies
1. Kyle Schwarber (L) LF (.218 AVG, 46 HR, .827 OPS)
2. Rhys Hoskins (R) 1B (.246 AVG, 30 HR, .794 OPS)
3. J.T. Realmuto (R) C (.276 HR, 22 HR, .820 OPS)
4. Bryce Harper (L) DH (.286 AVG, 18 HR, .877 OPS)
5. Nick Castellanos (R) RF (.263 AVG, 13 HR, .694 OPS)
6. Alec Bohm (R) 3B (.280 AVG, 13 HR, .713 OPS)
7. Bryson Stott (R) SS (.234 AVG, 10 HR, .653 OPS)
8. Jean Segura (R) 2B (.277 AVG, 10 HR, .723 OPS)
9. Brandon Marsh (R) CF (.245 AVG, 11 HR, .679 OPS)
