2022 World Series: Ben Verlander’s takeaways from Astros’ Game 4 win

HOUSTON — The World Series roller-coaster ride continues. One night after being shut out by the Phillies, the Astros shut down their National League nemesis in Game 4. 

Cristian Javier tossed six nearly perfect innings to lead a combined no-hitter and even up the series at two games apiece. 

Here are my biggest takeaways from Houston’s historic 5-0 victory over Philadelphia on Wednesday.

1. Javier’s historical performance

Javier has been dominant since the All-Star break. And he’s not a more well-known name among the baseball fan masses because he’s the Astros’ No. 4 starter. In fact, he wasn’t even starter for a lot of the season this year. 

He was a guy used in long relief because that’s how deep this Astros pitching staff is from top to bottom. But you get your No. 4 starter in the World Series anchoring a no-hitter with six dazzling innings. 

Javier throws “invisiballs.” He’s so dominant because of how nasty he is. His fastball is so hard to pick up. His slider was disgusting. 

This Philly lineup that was hot and ended up not getting a single hit. This is one of the greatest starts in World Series history. And Javier got this World Series back under control for the Astros.

2. Astros finish the combined no-hitter

A huge key for me coming into this series was the depth that the Astros have over the Phillies, specifically in the rotation. They didn’t have to bump up Justin Verlander, instead just using Javier in that four spot in the rotation. So, you’re not having to shuffle around, which turned out to be huge. 

We saw Aaron Nola on Wednesday, he was great early, and then it looked like he ran out of gas. Maybe with another day of rest, who knows? But the depth of the rotation and the bullpen showed itself Wednesday night. 

I don’t want a combined no-hitter to take away from anything. It is certainly rare (only 19 in baseball history). A combined no-hitter is important and very impressive in its own right because you have to have every pitcher involved on their A-game at the same time. It’s not just one guy who’s locked in. 

3. Astros bats break out

At one point I looked up at the scoreboard, and the Astros had seven hits and not a single run scored. Eight of the nine players had a hit tonight. Contrast that to last game when they hardly had any hits and didn’t score any runs, this was quite the different ballgame. You could see a different approach. They weren’t getting too big with their swings. They were staying contained, they were working pitchers, they were taking their singles — they loaded the bases on singles — but the big blow came on that Alex Bregman double. 

It was really everybody in this Astros lineup after a game Tuesday in which they weren’t very good. They all looked in the mirror and came out to play tonight. I think that speaks volumes about their experience in the World Series. I keep going back to that because I think it’s monumental. I think they experience they’ve had over the last six years, playing in these high-leverage games, is the reason they’re able to bounce back. 

How easy is it to get shut out in World Series and go down 2-1, and you have two more games on the road? There’s a chance you don’t go back home and the World Series is done — but they responded and guaranteed a return trip to Houston.

4. Nola fails to deliver

I actually think Aaron Nola threw the ball well tonight. He got himself into trouble in that fifth inning when they scored all the runs. The bases get loaded, they pull him out. I do believe that it was the right call, but I don’t think that takes away from what Nola did tonight. 

This is a World Series game. If the Phillies had any runs on the board, we’re giving him a standing ovation walking off the field, but the game was just different because he came out with the bases loaded. I was super impressed. He had guys off balance, and he was throwing hard. 

In the regular season, Nola had 35 pitches of 95-plus mph. He has done it 16 times already in the postseason, six more tonight. It’s really impressive what Nola’s doing. 

I think when you look at the box score, and you see Nola giving up a few runs, three earned, not great. I actually would disagree with that. I was really impressed with what he did, and then he came out of the game and all of his inherited runners scored.

5. José Alvarado struggles

I think you always want to come in with a clean inning, if you’re a reliever. You never think in the backyard, “World Series, bases are loaded, I’m coming in.” You’d rather it not be with the bases loaded. 

Alvarado has been dominant his last four outings in the playoffs. He hasn’t given up a run, but he does have control issues at times. And I learned that firsthand back when I faced him in the minor leagues. I had to bunt off the guy, and it was an absolute nightmare because he was throwing 100-mph sinkers with no idea where it was going at the time. He has since figured that out, and he’s one of Phiadelphia’s better relievers, which is why I totally agreed with the decision. 

Nola has been good, but I think Phillies manager Rob Thomson picked the right time to pull him. Maybe he noticed his two studs — Zack Wheeler obviously being the other — not having it as much as they did during the regular season. 

The Phils bring in Alvarado, and he just happened to have one of those nights where he didn’t have his best stuff. We’ve seen it before from him. Sometimes that command can waver a little bit, and we saw it here with the very first pitch he threw when he plunked Yordan Alvarez.

6. Justin Verlander to start pivotal Game 5

I’ve been around him every single day since his last outing, and obviously it wasn’t easy the night of Game 1. But that next day, he bounces right back. He’s in the clubhouse preparing for this start. 

You know you’re getting a Game 5 start, as long as there’s not a sweep, and I don’t think anybody thought there was going to be a sweep in either direction here. You know you’re going to get another start. And he’s been ready, and he’s been prepared. He’s eating up the opportunity to have this moment. 

He doesn’t have a World Series win in his career, and I think that adds to his fire. If you know Justin, you’ll know the fire that he has is unmatched. He knows the narrative. He knows the record. He knows what’s going on. He doesn’t care about that. He just wants to win. 

He has been the best pitcher in baseball all year long with a sub-1.80 ERA. He’s going to win the AL Cy Young Award, and now he can pitch his team to a 3-2 lead. And I will add: He needs to do that. 

This game for the Astros is a must-win. You have a bullpen game on the other side for the Phillies. Noah Syndergaard will be on the mound for perhaps two, three innings, followed by this bullpen that was pretty taxed Wednesday. 

The Phillies didn’t have to use a lot of their top arms, but they used Alvarado. They’re going to have to go to their bullpen early Thursday, and the Astros have their ace on the mound who had the best pitching season in baseball. You have to win Game 5 if you’re the Astros, and I know Justin’s going to come out fired up.