The Astros are at it again, throwing in a no-hitter to boot.

Despite the wild card Phillies becoming America’s darlings by wiping out the Cardinals, Braves and Padres in the playoffs, Houston had the best record in the American League for many reasons. The Astros’ pitching is the best kept secret in baseball and their bats can only be silenced for so long.

After four games, the 2022 World Series is looking strangely similar to the American League Championship Series last year. The Astros split the first two games at home against the Red Sox, who stunned them with two grand slam homers in Game 2. And the Sox won Game 3 in a blowout at Fenway Park, thinking they were on the way to another Word Series.

After splitting the first two games at home against the Phillies, the current World Series moved to Philadelphia where the home team continued its postseason slugfest with five home runs while posting a 7-0 whitewash in Game 3 and putting them in position to win their first world championship since 2008 without having to return to Houston.

But even worse than the Astros blasting the Red Sox in Game 4 in Boston the year before, they no-hit the Phillies, 5-0, Wednesday night to even the series. It was the second no-hitter in World Series history (Don Larsen’s perfect game for the Yankees in 1956 was the other) and ironically was both the second combined no-hitter for Houston this season and the second the Phillies had suffered in 2022, as well.

Now the Astros can win Game 5 on the road and Game 6 at home to close out the series and stun the Phillies like they did the Red Sox last year.

They have better hitting and pitching, and in a seven-game series that is likely to show up. Twenty-four-year-old Cristian Javier came out after 6 innings and three relievers finished off the no-hit gem that demoralized the subdued Philly crowd that was already counting on their team’s third world championship.

The winner of Game 5 for a 3-2 lead goes on to win the series almost 70 percent of the time, and the Astros have future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander pitching tonight and trying to break his own postseason jinx.

If he does against a tired Philadelphia rotation, the Astros need only more W at home to win their second World Series in six years and avenge losing in six games to the Braves last season, regaining the mantle as the best team in Major League Baseball.

Remember, you can never count them out.

 

Featured image via Associated Press/Matt Slocum

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