Four Astros combined on a no-hitter in Game 4 of the World Series, the 19th combined no-no in MLB history

Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressley of the Astros combined to no-hit the Phillies in Game 4 of the World Series Wednesday in Philadelphia. The four Houston pitchers issued three walks and struck out 14.

Here are the three ninth-inning outs [VIDEO].

It was the second no-hitter in World Series history. You’re certainly familiar with the other, Don Larsen’s perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Dodgers.

The other postseason no-hitter was also thrown in Philadelphia, by Roy Halladay of the Phillies, in Game 1 of a division series against the Reds in 2010. Dusty Baker, Houston’s current manager, was the manager of that Reds team.

Javier and Pressly were involved in another combined no-hitter earlier this year against the Yankees; details below.

Houston’s World Series combined no-no was the 19th in MLB history. Here are details of the other 18, including one by the Cubs in 2021.

June 23, 1917, first game, Boston Red Sox: Babe Ruth and Ernie Shore. The first of these is perhaps the most famous combined no-no. Ruth walked Washington Senators leadoff hitter Ray Morgan and argued balls and strikes so vehemently that he was ejected. Ernie Shore replaced Ruth and Morgan was immediately caught trying to steal second. Shore then retired the next 26 batters, completing a game in which he recorded 27 consecutive outs. For many years this game was considered a perfect game by Shore, but when MLB revisited the no-hitter list a few years ago, it was deemed to be a combined no-hitter.

April 30, 1967, first game, Baltimore Orioles: It took 50 years for another combined no-hitter to enter the record books, this one by Baltimore’s Steve Barber and Stu Miller. Barber threw 8⅔ innings, but had to yield to Miller to record the final out. The Orioles lost the game 2-1, one of only two MLB-recognized losing no-hitters. (Here’s the other one. There have been three others where pitchers combined for eight no-hit innings and lost, but those are not recognized as official by MLB.)

September 28, 1975, Oakland Athletics: Vida Blue, Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad and Rollie Fingers. It was the last day of the season and the A's were resting up their rotation for the ALCS, so Blue pitched just five innings. The rest didn't help him in the postseason, as Blue got roughed up in Game 3 by the Red Sox, who swept the Athletics in the then five-game league championship series.

July 28, 1976, Chicago White Sox: Blue Moon Odom and Francisco Barrios. Odom, a former Athletics phenom trying to resurrect his career with the White Sox, threw five no-hit innings against his former team. Unfortunately, he had walked nine and allowed a run; with the game tied 1-1, manager Paul Richards lifted him for Francisco Barrios, who completed the no-no with the White Sox winning 2-1. The 11 combined walks is the most in any no-hitter.

April 11, 1990, California Angels: Mark Langston and Mike Witt. It was just the third game of the season and Langston was pulled after 99 pitches in a scoreless tie after the top of the seventh. The Angels pushed across a run in the bottom of the inning and Witt, who had thrown a perfect game six years earlier, threw two perfect innings to finish the no-hitter.

July 13, 1991, Baltimore Orioles: Bob Milacki, Mike Flanagan, Mark Williamson and Gregg Olson. The Orioles became the first team to throw more than one combined no-hitter, adding this to the one thrown 24 years earlier. This time, the O's won. Milacki had issued three walks, but had thrown only 80 pitches when he was taken out with a 2-0 lead, which the three other pitchers preserved, as well as the no-hitter. Four weeks after this game, the Orioles were no-hit by the White Sox' Wilson Alvarez.

September 11, 1991, Atlanta Braves: Kent Mercker, Mark Wohlers and Alejandro Pena. In the middle of their first pennant race in years, the Braves were involved in this tight 1-0 game against the Padres, so manager Bobby Cox went to his strong bullpen to relieve Mercker; Wohlers and Pena finished it off, but not before Pena had let a runner reach on an error with two out in the ninth. Mercker later threw a complete-game no-hitter in 1994.

July 12, 1997, Pittsburgh Pirates: Francisco Cordova and Ricardo Rincon. This is the only combined no-no that went into extra innings. Cordova threw nine innings and Rincon the 10th as the game had gone into extras scoreless. The Pirates won on a three-run walk-off homer by pinch-hitter Mark Smith in the bottom of the 10th inning.

June 11, 2003, Houston Astros: Roy Oswalt, Pete Munro, Kirk Saarloos, Brad Lidge, Octavio Dotel and Billy Wagner. Oswalt started the game but left due to injury after only one inning. Because the Astros led throughout in an 8-0 win, the official scorer had the discretion to name the winning pitcher, since Oswalt didn't go the requisite five innings. He chose Lidge, who threw two perfect innings. This no-no ended a streak of nearly 45 years during which the Yankees were not no-hit, dating back to September 20, 1958, when they were no-hit by Hoyt Wilhelm, then with Baltimore. That streak, verified at 7,003 games, was broken by the Cubs May 6, 2010. The Cubs still hold that record, but their streak ended at 7,920 games when Cole Hamels no-hit them July 25, 2015.

June 8, 2012, Seattle Mariners: Kevin Millwood, Charlie Furbush, Stephen Pryor, Lucas Luetge, Brandon League and Tom Wilhelmsen. Millwood had to leave the game after six innings with a groin injury and the other five finished up, only the second combined no-no with that many pitchers. Millwood became just the fourth pitcher in major-league history to throw a no-hitter by himself and also be part of a combined one (Vida Blue, Mike Witt and Kent Mercker are the others).

September 1, 2014, Philadelphia Phillies: Cole Hamels, Jake Diekman, Ken Giles and Jonathan Papelbon. Hamels had run up a large pitch count of 108 in six innings due to five walks, so the Phillies called on three other pitchers to finish off the 7-0 win. It was one of only two no-hitters in MLB history where a player on the team being no-hit had a player steal three bases (Jason Heyward); the other such game was in 1903. The Phillies also became the fourth team since 2010 to throw a no-hitter and be no-hit in the same season, as the Dodgers' Josh Beckett had no-hit them earlier in 2014. As noted above, Hamels was added to the list of pitchers who threw a no-hitter by himself and also was part of a combined no-no when he no-hit the Cubs in 2015.

May 4, 2018, Los Angeles Dodgers: Walker Buehler, Tony Cingrani, Yimi Garcia and Adam Liberatore

Buehler, a rookie righthander making just his 11th big-league appearance and third start, threw six no-hit innings against the Padres and was lifted after 93 pitches. He combined with the three other Dodger pitchers to complete the no-no. The Dodger hurlers combined for five walks in the game, two of them in the third inning with one out, bringing the tying run to the plate. But Eric Hosmer lined into a double play to end the only real threat the Padres had. In addition to this being a rare feat on its own, the game was played in Monterrey, Mexico, making this the first MLB no-hitter thrown outside the U.S. or Canada.

July 12, 2019, Los Angeles Angels: Taylor Cole and Felix Pena

The Angels, in their first home game since the passing of Tyler Skaggs, chose to honor their teammate by all wearing his No. 45. The tribute became even more emotional when Cole and Pena combined to no-hit the Mariners. Cole, normally a reliever, was used as an “opener” in this game and retired all six batters he faced. Pena, a former Cub, finished the game with seven no-hit innings. The only baserunner was a fifth-inning walk drawn by Omar Narvaez. The 13-0 score is the largest for any combined no-hitter and the largest for any Angels no-hitter. Here are a couple of odd coincidences from this game:

[Mike] Trout was in disbelief after the game and pointed out that the Angels scored seven runs in the first inning and had 13 hits overall, which correlates with what would’ve been Skaggs’ 28th birthday on Saturday (7/13). In another crazy coincidence dug up by Stats Inc., the last combined no-hitter thrown in the state of California was when the Orioles no-hit Oakland on July 13, 1991, which is the same day Skaggs was born.

The Angels became, after the Orioles, the second team to throw two combined no-nos.

August 3, 2019, Houston Astros: Aaron Sanchez, Will Harris, Joe Biagini and Chris Devenski

The Mariners were the losing team in a combined no-hitter for the second time in a month, and Aaron Sanchez threw six no-hit innings in his first start since being traded from the Blue Jays to the Astros. Martin Maldonado, also recently acquired in trade by Houston from the Cubs, was the starting catcher in this 9-0 no-hitter. It was the 12th no-hitter in Astros history and their second combined no-no. They became the third club to throw two combined no-hitters.

June 24, 2021, Chicago Cubs: Zach Davies, Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Craig Kimbrel

The four Cubs hurlers walked eight in this no-hitter over the Dodgers, tied for the fourth-most walks in any no-hitter. Another fun fact about the Cubs’ first-ever combined no-hitter:

The Cubs also became the first visiting team to throw two no-hitters at Dodger Stadium. The other was by Jake Arrieta in 2015.

September 11, 2021, Milwaukee Brewers: Corbin Burnes and Josh Hader

Burnes threw eight no-hit innings against Cleveland. He had 14 strikeouts and had thrown 115 pitches (78 strikes). Josh Hader retired the side in order to complete the 3-0 no-hitter. It was the second in Brewers history. The other one was thrown by Juan Nieves in 1987. Here’s the final out of that 1987 no-no:

April 29, 2022, New York Mets: Tylor Megill, Drew Smith, Joely Rodríguez, Seth Lugo and Edwin Díaz

This is the third game in which at least five pitchers were used in a no-hitter. It was just the second in Mets history, the other a disputed no-hitter (a ball that was likely fair was called foul) by Johan Santana in 2012.

It took 159 pitches and six walks to complete the no-hitter, but the Mets’ quintet struck out 12, including Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos and JT Realmuto in the ninth by Díaz.

June 25, 2022, Houston Astros: Cristian Javier, Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly

The three pitchers combined for 150 pitches and 15 strikeouts. It was the first time the Yankees had been no-hit since 2003, also a combined no-hitter thrown by the Astros, and was the first no-no thrown at the new Yankee Stadium, which opened in 2009.

Martin Maldonado, who caught this game, also caught Houston’s combined no-hitter in 2019, becoming the first catcher to work two combined no-hitters.

Then there’s this:

The Yankees entered Saturday with a .732 winning percentage. That’s the highest winning percentage for a team entering a game where they were no-hit at least 50 games into a season, according to STATS. In fact, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, no team had even been no-hit under those criteria with a winning percentage above .691.