Astros Pitchers Combine for 1st World Series No Hitter in 66 Years

In the 1956 World Series, New York Yankees righthander Don Larsen pitched a no hitter—and a perfect game at that—against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Since then, there had been no more no hitters in the World Series and only one other post season no hitter. That was in 2010, when the Philadelphia Phillies’ Roy Halladay no hit the Cincinnati Reds in a National League Division Series game.

But now, after 66 years, the World Series has its second no hitter. On November 2nd, four Houston Astros pitchers combined to throw the 2nd World Series no hitter, blanking the Phillies 5-0 and evening the 2022 World Series at two games apiece.

Righthander Cristian Javier started for Houston, and pitched six innings. The Astros scored all of their runs in the fifth inning, so Javier was the winning pitcher. He was followed by Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero, and Ryan Pressly, each of whom pitched one inning. Astros pitchers allowed three baserunners, all on walks. Back on June 25th, Astros pitchers also threw a combined no hitter. This one was against the New York Yankees, and Javier started and was the winning pitcher in that one, too. This was the first time a pitcher has started two combined no hitters, ever (although with the way bullpens are used these days, we expect to see more of this). Pressley picked up a save in that June 25th game, too.

Neither Don Larsen nor Roy Halladay are around anymore. Larsen died on New Year’s Day 2020 at age 90. He pitched 14 years bouncing around in the majors—including parts of two of those with the Houston Colt 45s, precursors of the Astros—and compiled an 81-91 record with a 3.78 ERA. He pitched out of the bullpen a lot; Larsen had 171 starts in 412 games. Halladay’s career was more impressive. In his 16 year career, Halladay had a record of 203-105 with a 3.38 ERA with the Toronto Blue Jays and Phillies. He won a Cy Young Award with each club. Besides that post season no hitter, Halladay pitched a perfect game on May 29th, 2010 against the then Florida Marlins. He retired after an injury plagued 2013 season.

Halladay was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019. Sadly, he wasn’t around to enjoy the honor. On November 7th, 2017 Halladay, a licensed pilot, was killed when he crashed his plane into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of New Port Richey, Florida. He was 40 years old.