Inside Cristian Javier’s three-strikeout inning that set tone

PHILADELPHIA — Facing a trio of Phillies hitters whose strengths matched his own, Cristian Javier bet on himself and waged a war on the strike zone with his favorite weapon. 

His two-strike fastball rose suddenly as it reached the plate, as if yanked by an invisible fishing line. The ball eschewed wood for leather, whizzed above an enemy bat and pounded into Christian Vázquez’s catcher’s mitt. 

The scene repeated itself twice more. After J.T. Realmuto, Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos all struck out swinging, Javier crossed himself with his right hand as he calmly walked off the mound. 

Javier’s masterful fourth inning was a highlight of the six frames he pitched as the Astros no-hit the Phillies in a 5-0 victory in Game 4 of the World Series on Wednesday night. And it was the result of an attack-first mindset that has elevated Javier into one of Houston’s best hurlers. 

In both the second and third innings, Javier stranded a runner in scoring position after he issued a walk and the Phillies took advantage of his slow delivery to steal second base. He escaped each time, but in the fourth inning, Javier waded into the heart of Philadelphia’s batting order, where a bevy of fastball-loving hitters lurked.   

During the regular season, Realmuto (.546), Harper (.563) and Castellanos (.446) each slugged fastballs at a higher clip than any other pitch. Javier throws his four-seamer 59.9 percent of the time. The Phillies knew it was coming. But rather than try and throw them off the scent, Javier leaned into it. 

“No, I really don’t think I could change my plan of attack,” he said after the game through an interpreter. “I think I just needed to stay positive. I thought that my fastball today was really good and definitely I was able to get a lot of swings and misses.” 

In a 12-pitch fourth inning, Javier threw seven fastballs and five sliders. The Phillies spoiled three fastballs foul and took three sliders for balls, but were powerless to touch Javier when it counted most. He retired all three batters with a top-of-the-zone fastball: Realmuto at a 1-2 count, Harper at 0-2 and Castellanos at 2-2. All whiffed on strike three. 

The frame set the table for the Astros’ offense to break open a scoreless game in the fifth inning, when they sent nine batters to the plate and put up five runs. 

“I thought it was huge,” said third baseman Alex Bregman, who contributed a two-run double in the fifth. “Just him continuing to put up zeroes when we hadn’t scored was keeping us in the game and giving us a chance. That’s all you can really ask for out of a starter. We put a little pressure on him there not scoring early. He answered the bell.” 

Perhaps it helped that the Phillies had never faced Javier before, and thus were unprepared for his particular four-seamer that teammates have branded the “invisiball” for its unique vertical movement. 

“I think it’s electric. You can call it anytime,” Vázquez said. “No matter who is in the batter’s box, you can call it and it’s going to be success with that pitch.” 

Astros reliever Bryan Abreu watched Javier’s three-strikeout fourth inning and later emulated his attack. He faced the same part of the Phillies’ lineup in the seventh inning and, like Javier, relied solely on fastballs and sliders to strike out Realmuto, Harper and Castellanos. 

“I’ve been watching Javier from the bullpen, and he was using his fastball, and I just have to come in and throw my fastball, too,” Abreu said. 

Fastballs accounted for 72 percent of Javier’s 97 pitches against the Phillies. He threw 70 fastballs, 25 sliders and just two curveballs — both to lefty hitter Kyle Schwarber. Six of his nine strikeouts concluded on a fastball, and half of those occurred in the fourth inning. 

Javier never doubted his best pitch. The Astros reaped the rewards. 

“I think we read all the swings during the game and, when they don’t show you a good swing with the fastball, we continue to throw it,” Vázquez said. “And I think that’s the way we called the game today and it was effective.”  

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