2022 World Series Game 4 Astros vs Phillies summary: score, stats and updates
Astros 5-0 Phillies FINAL SCORE
That is going to be if from us here with our live coverage, but join us again tomorrow for Game 5, starting one hour before the first pitch.
Tomorrow night's Game 5 will see Astros ace Justin Verlander again chase that elusive first World Series win when he squares off against Noah Syndergaard and the Phillies.
Only 24 hours after putting up an offensive display that saw the Phillies get five home runs, they go completely hitless.
Through five innings, both teams were having a defensive duel, and then Astros bats came to life with a massive five-run inning that was all the difference.
With this win, the Astros assure the Series' return to Houston for a sixth game at least.
History is made
The Astros have now completed only the second no-hitter in World Series history, the first combined no-hitter in playoff history. The work by Cristian Javier was legendary. One of the best starts that has ever been posted in World Series history.
JT Realmuto hits a shot to Bregman who makes the throw to end the game!
Rhys Hoskins pops one to shallow right for Kyle Tucker. Two away and the Phillies are down to their last out.
He works the count full before drawing the walk, only the third surrendered by Houston on the night.
Kyle Schwarber will come to the plate to try and get something going here.
Marsh works a 2-2 count before chasing a hard slider for strike three. One down.
Brandon Marsh leads off for Philadelphia.
Bottom 9
Ryan Pressly will be brought on to try and slam the door in the Phillies faces.
Alex Bregman comes up and pops one to left field, taken by Schwarber to end the inning. We go to the bottom of the ninth, the Astros sitting on a no-hitter, up by 5-0
Yordan Álvarez steps in and lifts one to left center field. Brandon Marsh makes the catch deep on the warning track, just a step in front of the wall. Two down.
Jeremy Peña lines one right back up the middle for a single.
He slaps one to short stop. Stott fields it and makes the throw in time for one out.
Jose Altuve leads off and hacks a few fouls back. 0-2
Top 9
Brad Hand comes on to close out the threat in the ninth, keep the Phillies where they are and give their bats a chance to come into it.
Jean Segura lines the first pitch into right field, but directly at Kyle Tucker. At the end of eight it is still 5-0 Houston.
Bryson Stott pops one to shallow left where McCormick takes it for out number two.
Bohm runs the count full before swinging through a fastball high in the zone for strike three.
Defensively, the Astros also bring in Mauricio Dubon in center field, sliding Chas McCormick over to left field and Aledmys Díaz coming out of the game.
Bottom 8
Rafael Montero will take over for the Astros and he will face Alec Bohm to lead off in the eighth.
Chas McCormick comes to the plate and repeats the performance. Three hitters go down on minimal pitches. Eflin does his job and the Astros are retired in order.
Aledmys Díaz goes after the same pitch and has the same result. Two down.
Vazquez goes down swinging on a big curve ball.
Top 8
The Phillies bring in Zack Eflin to get through the eighth and he faces Christian Vazquez to lead off.
He runs the count to 2-2 before missing the breaking pitch to end the inning. Seven innings out of the way, 5-0 Astros.
Nick Castellanos comes to the plate now with two away.
Harper does likewise, swinging through a 100mph fastball.
He goes down swining and Bryce Harper comes to the plate.
JT Realmuto will lead off for the Phillies.
Bottom 7
Bryan Abreu will take over the pitching duties for Houston and will try to keep this no-hitter going.
First pitch swinging, the high pop fly to third is brought down by Alec Bohm to end the inning.
Kyle Tucker shows more patience and draws the walk. Man on first and two down for Yuli Gurriel.
Bregman pops the first pitch behind short stop where Bryson Stott makes the catch for out number two.
Alvarez goes down swinging on three pitches for the first out.
Top 7
David Robertson takes over on the mound for the Phillies and will face Yordan Álvarez to lead off the inning.
That is now six no-hit innings for Cristian Vazquez
Rhys Hoskins has a patient at-bat to run the count full. The payoff pitch is hit to short stop, where Peña fields it cleanly, makes the throw to end the inning.
Kyle Schwarber comes to the plate and fights off a few big pitches before slapping one to Peña, who makes the throw for out number two.
Javier delivers a fastball that Marsh slaps to second. Altuve makes the throw to first to get out number one.
Marsh fouls the first two pitches off before laying off a ball. The 1-2 pitch misses outside.
Bottom 6
Javier has been effervescent in this game so far. He faces Brandon Marsh to get things going.
Jeremy Peña flies one out to Schwarber for the third out.
Jose Altuve pops the ffirst pitch into the left field corner. Schwarber makes the catch just in front of the warning track for out number two.
McCormick fouls a few off before chasing the low slider for the first out.
Top 6
The Phillies bring on Andrew Bellatti to face Chas McCormick in the sixth inning.
This is an amazing performance by Javier. Dominant.
In the history of the World Series, only three pitchers have struck out over seven batters and allowed no runs over the first five innings on the road.
Bob Gibson
Sandy Koufax
Cristian Javier
What company to be in!
Javier delivers an outside curve that Segura pops weakly to Gurriel to end the inning.
Jean Segura comes in a fouls a few off. Count is 1-2
Cristian Javier now has nine strikeouts, and five in a row.
Bryson Stott does the same thing. A couple of fouls then looks at a perfect four-seam fastball for a called strike three. Two down.
He fouls a few off before looking at a called strike three on the bottom part of the zone.
Bottom 5
Alec Bohm leads off for Philadelphia, to see if they can come up with an answer to that big inning.
Big-time hit in a big-time situation
The count is now full and Alvarado delivers the payoff for a 99 mph fastball called strike to end the inning. But what an inning it was for Houston. They score five runs and now lead 5-0 going into the bottom half of the fifth.
Aledmys Díaz stands in and runs the count to 2-2. Gurriel takes off for second and is easily in before Realmuto's throw. Stolen base.
Christian Vazquez goes down swinging on a 99mph cutter for the second out.
Yuli Gurriel comes to the plate and gets nothing but heat. He slaps one through to left, scoring Bregman from third. 5-0 Houston, man on first and one out.
Kyle Tucker comes up and hits one deep to center field. Marsh makes the catch for the first out, but both Alvarez and Bregman tag up, scoring one and Bregman moving up to third. 4-0 Astros.
Bregman lines one to right for a double, scoring two runners on the play. Alvarez moves to third.
Bregman comes up now with bases still loaded and nobody out. The first pitch he sees is a 100mph fastball for a strike.
Hit by pitch
First pitch, Alvarado drills Alvarez with a 99mph fastball to the ribs. That will force in a run.
Yordan Álvarez is at the plate, the most dangerous man in this situation on the Houston roster.
New Pitcher: Phillies
Bases loaded, nobody out, and the Phillies bring on Jose Alvarado to try and dig their way out of this hole.
Three straight hits and that will be it for Aaron Nola.
Another ball and then Nola serves up a hanging curve that Peña slaps into left field. It is not deep enough to score the runner from second, but everyone moves up 90 feet.
The 0-2 pitch is a low curve. Wisely, Peña lays off it.
He does try to lay down a bunt and fouls it for a strike.
Peña instead chases a curve for a strike.
Jeremy Peña comes up and the infield is playing in. They are anticipating a sac bunt.
Alvarado is now up in the Phillies bullpen.
Second pitch is lined into left field, where it falls for a single. Now runners at first and second with nobody out.
Top of the order now, and Jose Altuve swings through the first pitch.
He hits a laser to Bryson Stott and it is deep in the hole, spinning the shortstop. the throw to first is not in time to catch the speedy McCormick. Infield hit to lead us off.
Top 5
Chas McCormick leads off the fifth and Nola gets him swinging on the first pitch.
And Javier goes a different way, throwing high heat. He was right because Castellanos chased it and missed for strike three. Cristian Javier retires the Phillies in order and we move to five, still scoreless.
Javier goes back to the breaking ball and misses two before getting another fastball fouled off. Look for a breaking ball, down in the zone for the next pitch.
Nick Castellanos comes up and gets a fastball for a strike. His first at-bat, he saw nothing but breaking pitches.
Bryce Harper comes up and goes down on three straight fastballs.
Bottom 4
JT Realmuto leads us off and goes down swinging on a series that was slider-heavy. One down.
Aledmys Díaz comes up and hits a slow roller to short. The throw is in time and the inning ends. So far it has been a defensive duel, moving to the bottom of the fourth still scoreless.
He pokes one through to right, swinging inside out, for a single. Gurriel moves up to third.
Christian Vazquez comes to the plate with two outs now. The Astros brought him into the lineup to try and get a bit of something happening with the bat out of the catcher's position.
Yuli Guriel lines the first pitch into center for a single.
Kyle Tucker comes up and runs the count full before getting a fastball that he drives to right field, but directly at Nick Castellanos for the second out.
Top 4
Bregman leads off proceedings with a first pitch fly ball to center field, taken by Marsh for out number one.
He pops one into foul territory, Gurriel gets to it and that ends the inning.
Rhys Hoskins is now up with a man on second and two outs.
Schwarber takes a third strike and Marsh steals second. Great throw by Vazquez but Marsh had a great jump. He just simply beat it.
Schwarber yanks a beautiful shot past first base that would be extra bases but it is called foul. Schwarber is unhappy with the call but it is not reviewable.
Kyle Schwarber comes up now with a man on first base and one out.
Brandon Marsh draws a walk on four pitches.
Javier sticks with the fastball and Segura fouls another one back before flying out to center field. One down.
Bottom 3
Jean Segura will lead things off for the Philies and he gets outside-in fastballs for balls before fouling two back to level things up.
He hits a long ball to left center, but Kyle Schwarber is there to put it away and end the inning. Three up, three down for the Astros.
Yordan Álvarez comes in to see if he can get anything going with two outs here.
Jeremy Peña is a little more discerning than his first at-bat, laying off a couple of change-ups to get to a full count. The payoff is a curve and Peña almost falls down trying to chase it. He was fooled terribly. Two down.
Top 3
Jose Altuve leads off and swings at the first pitch, hitting a chopper to third base and Bohm makes a great throw to get the out.
Bryson Stott pops one just behind the bag at second and Jeremy Peña makes the catch to end the inning. At the end of two, still scoreless here in Philly.
A few high fastballs follow, which are fouled off and then Bohm lays off the slider. The count runs to 2-2. The fastball gets Bohm swinging for out number two.
Harper took off on the pitch and Vazquez's throw was a little off the bag. Harper slides under Altuve's tag for a stolen base. Two down now with a runner in scoring position.
Alec Bohm gets a slider for the first pitch and chases it, missing badly.
Nick Castellanos comes to the plate and it is a different story. Javier goes with the slider and gets him chasing on three pitches. One down.
Javier gets unlucky on some of those calls, two or three could have been strikes that were called balls. In the end, he loses Harper and gives up the walk to start us off.
As a fastball / slider pitcher, Javier will lean heavily on that four seamer all night. For Harper, none of them will be in the zone, hoping that he might chase them.
Bottom 2
Javier will face Bryce Harper to get the second inning underway.
The count runs to 2-2 and McCormick chases that same curve ball that got Díaz. Nola gets out of trouble and the inning ends still scoreless.
Chas McCormick comes up now, an entirely different proposition. Two outs now. He likes the fast ball but will not likely see any of them in the strike zone.
He gets behind quickly 1-2 before fouling a couple off. He has seen mostly breaking pitches and chases a terrible one for strike three.
Díaz needs to get on top of his propensity to chase the breaking pitches. He seems incapable of letting off of them.
Aledmys Díaz stands in and the Astros need him to come alive now. So far, he has been 1-for-18 in the post season.
Christian Vazquez comes up and a two-seam fastball that runs in catches his elbow. The Astros now have men at first and third with one out.
Yuli Gurriel comes up first pitch swinging. A hard ground ball to third sees Hoskins throw across the diamond. Tucker is super-aggressive and breaks for third as Hoskins lets it fly. The Phillies get the out at one, but the throw back to third is not in time.
Tucker yanks one into right field and it makes its way into the corner. Leadoff double for the Astros.
Top 2
Kyle Tucker will lead off the second for Houston.
JT Realmuto gets behind quickly and goes down swinging, chasing a sick slider, to end the inning. At the end of one, we are still scoreless.
Rhys Hoskins comes up and works the count full. The payoff pitch is popped sky-high behind short stop. Jeremy Peña calls for it and makes the catch for out number two.
Schwarber is an atypical leadoff hitter, very patient, lots of very high pitch counts, home run power. He flies one to left field and Aledmys Diaz camps under it just in front of the warning track for the first out.
Bottom 1
Cristian Javier takes the mound for the Astros and will face this unbelievable Phillies lineup with Kyle Schwarber leading off.
Bregman fouls a couple off to bring the count to 1-2 before poking a slow roller to second base. Jean Segura gets to it and makes the throw for the third out.
Nola misses with a fastball before bringing a beautiful two-seamer that runs back in for a strike.
Alex Bregman is at the bat now, Nola's old room mate at LSU.
Álvarez fouls a couple off and brings the count to 2-2 before dropping one into the gap in left center field for a single.
Yordan Álvarez comes to the plate and sees a couple of curves. He doesn't bite and they fall either side of the paint, one and one.
Jeremy Peña comes up and watches another fastball for a strike. He then swings wildly at a nasty cutter before whiffing a curveball for the out. Two away.
Altuve hits a fly ball to shallow right center. Brandon Marsh gets on his horse and runs it down fo the first out.
Altuve, in typical aggressive style, swung at that first pitch. He missed it and held off on the second pitch, which was a ball outside. Another two fastballs get fouled back. 1-2
And we are off!
Here we go! The crowd is in their seats, the Phillies are on the field, Aaron Nola is all warmed up and ready to deliver that first pitch to Jose Altuve to get proceedings started.
Here's the delivery and it is a 95 mph fastball for a strike.
Stand Up to Cancer
Cancer touches everyone. There is not a person alive who doesn't have some member of their family who has suffered from, recovered from, or passed away from cancer. My own card would read "Anthony Wayne May" my father, who died of a brain tumor.
Philly fans go international
These were scenes from Game 3 at Passyunk Avenue bar in London. The UK's Philly-themed night spot has hosted late-night screenings of the World Series for British Phillies fans, and they loved it!
Mattress Mack regrets nothing
After getting heckled by "a drunk Phillies fan", Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale lost his cool. But in typical Mattress Mack style, he is unrepentant.
Harper full swag
Bryce Harper is rocking the full-on confident swagger
Ceremonial First Pitch
Former Phillies players Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley, who won the 2008 World Series and defended it in 2009, will be throwing out ceremonial first pitches for Game 4. They will be joined by pediatric cancer survivor, 19-year-old Luke Theodosiades.
"It's pretty exciting," Theodosiades said. "I've always been a huge Phillies fan."
As part of MLB’s annual tradition of honoring cancer patients in partnership with Stand Up to Cancer, Luke was invited to take part in the game, and life-long Phillies fan First Lady Dr Jill Biden will join Luke, players, coaches, umpires, and fans as they hold up names of loved ones for a Stand Up To Cancer moment during the 5th inning.
MLB has donated $50 million to help fight cancer.
Following the opening pitches, the national anthem will be performed by singer-songwriter Madison Watkins.
Interesting Game 4 facts, courtesy of MLB.com
• The Phillies tied a World Series record with five home runs in a game. The Astros (Oct. 29, 2017, vs. Dodgers), A’s (Oct. 27, 1989, vs. Giants) and Yankees (Oct. 9, 1928, vs Cardinals) are the only others.
• The Astros have been shut out in three of their last seven World Series games, compared to once in their previous 20 World Series games.
• In all best-of-seven postseason series tied 1-1, the Game 3 winner has captured the series 68 of 98 times (69%). In series with the current 2-3-2 format, teams breaking a 1-1 tie by winning Game 3 in their home ballpark have gone on to win the series 29 of 47 times (62%), including the Phillies in the 2022 NLCS vs the Padres.
Lineups
Astros
Jose Altuve, 2B
Jeremy Peña, SS
Yordan Alvarez, DH
Alex Bregman, 3B
Kyle Tucker, RF
Yuli Gurriel, 1B
Christian Vazquez, C
Aledmys Díaz, LF
Chas McCormick, CF
Phillies
Kyle Schwarber, LF
Rhys Hoskins, 1B
J.T. Realmuto, C
Bryce Harper, DH
Nick Castellanos, RF
Alec Bohm, 3B
Bryson Stott, SS
Jean Segura, 2B
Brandon Marsh, CF
In a case of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”, the lineup for the Phillies will remain the same as their winning formula in Game 3. The Astros, on the other hand, are having a reshuffle, bringing Yordan Álvarez back to DH, looking for some payoff in that troubled revolving-door spot, while sticking Aledmys Diaz in left field. In a bid to get more bang for their buck in the batting order, they have Christian Vazquez in at catcher.
Starting Pitchers
Astros
RH Cristian Javier
2.54 ERA
148.2 IP
194 SO
0.95 WHIP
Phillies
RH Aaron Nola
3.25 ERA
205.0 IP
235 SO
0.96 WHIP
Twice this series, the Astros have had a fabulous pitcher blown off the mound by the Phillies' bats, and in Game 4 they are looking to change the dynamic by starting Cristian Javier. He has a stout 0.95 WHIP and 194 strikeouts during the regular season but when you look at his work in the post season, those numbers drop considerably, to a mind-blowing 0.75 WHIP and notching up seven strikeouts in six innings pitched.
His counterpart for the Phillies will be Aaron Nola, who has an equally solid 0.96 regular season WHIP and an even more eye-popping 235 strikeouts, but whose post season has seen him struggle, posting a 1.25 WHIP and 23 strikeouts on 21.2 innings pitched. True, he has been more of a workhorse than Javier has, shouldering a larger share of the burden in a lightly armed Phillies bullpen, but he can be prone to collapse, as happened in Game 2 of the NLCS when he gave up seven runs in five innings.
After taking Game 1 on the road in Houston, the series is now two games to one in Philadelphia’s favor and the Astros will need to take the same path, stealing a game away from the home team, if they are to stay in the competition. At the moment, the Phillies are firmly in the driver’s seat.
Last night saw the blows traded between these two heavyweights sway back to the Phillies favor. Houston was staggered and must get off of the ropes if they are to survive. With a 7-0 blowout, the Phillies had what at times resembled a home-run derby in their first home World Series game in over a decade.
With all of the analytics and ipads in baseball these days, it was the good old fashioned eye test that was the key to Philadelphia’s success. Spotting the tell in Lance McCullers, Jr’s delivery, the Phillies were able to smack five home runs off of the Astros starter, tying a record for the most hit in a single World Series game by them, and setting a record for the most ever given up by a single pitcher.
Good evening and welcome to Diario AS USA’s live commentary stream of Game 4 of the 2022 World Series.