Astros even World Series with no-hitter; Rob Thomson’s message to Phillies: ‘We’ve been in this situation before’

It lasted for only a minute or so, barely long enough to qualify as a speech. But after the Phillies made the wrong kind of World Series history Wednesday night, Rob Thomson walked into the clubhouse and delivered a convenient reminder.

“The last time we got no-hit,” the manager said, “we ended up coming back and winning the next day.”

True story. It happened on April 29, a Friday night in New York. The Phillies were, in fact, held hitless by five Mets pitchers, and they did rebound the following night. For further proof, check the boxscore.

Now, if you want to argue that a regular-season game in April can’t be equated to Game 4 of the World Series, you’d probably be right. But what else are the Phillies supposed to cling to after one of the more stunning momentum shifts in the 118-year history of the Fall Classic?

» READ MORE: The Phillies’ Game 4 loss to the Astros has put them in a pitching pickle in this World Series

It probably shouldn’t matter how it happened, this 5-0 loss to the Houston Astros at Citizens Bank Park. What’s more important is that it happened at all, that the series is tied at two games apiece and guaranteed to return to Houston over the weekend, with only Noah Syndergaard and the bullpen standing in the way of the Phillies facing elimination when they get there.

Say it together: Uh-oh.

But the fact remains that Cristian Javier and relievers Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero, and Ryan Pressly combined to throw the second no-hitter in the 688-game history of the World Series, joining only Don Larsen’s perfect game for the New York Yankees in Game 5 in 1956. Back then, the Brooklyn Dodgers won the next game, but lost the series.

How will the Phillies respond?

Their immediate reaction: defiance.

“I really don’t give a [crap],” Kyle Schwarber said. “Move on to tomorrow. It’s cool. We’ll be in the history books, I guess. It’s just a loss.”

Said Nick Castellanos: “It’s different for you guys and for the fans, but for us, we want to be as consistent as possible. It happened. They evened the series. We have to focus on winning tomorrow. That’s it. Tomorrow the game starts 0-0.”

And from Rhys Hoskins: “I think everybody in here is proud, but at the end of the day, it’s a loss. The only thing we’re counting right now is wins and losses.”

OK, so let’s pretend that all losses are equal. After all, the Astros shrugged off Game 3, when the Phillies tied a World Series record with five home runs before their raucous home crowd and muted everyone and everything in Game 4.

» READ MORE: Phillies’ J.T. Realmuto wins NL Gold Glove Award

It doesn’t erase the Phillies’ pitching questions for the rest of the series. Syndergaard has worked only 5⅓ innings in the playoffs and likely will be capped at about 10 or 11 batters. Zack Wheeler, scheduled to start Game 6, is dealing with arm fatigue.

The Astros, meanwhile, will have their two best starters — Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez — on the mound in Games 5 and 6. If anyone is overdue for a big game, it’s Verlander, 0-6 with a 6.07 ERA in eight career World Series starts. A victory would be the cherry on top of his Hall of Fame career.

A potential silver lining: He can’t pitch better than Javier.

The 25-year-old right-hander punched the mute button — on the Phillies’ bats and another boisterous crowd that was ready to party after Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley threw ceremonial first pitches.

And Javier did it with mostly fastballs — none harder than 95.9 mph, with an average velocity of only 93.5 — against a lineup that typically mashes heaters. Only Javier’s has atypical backspin and comes from a deceptive arm slot.

“It’s a good fastball,” Schwarber said. “He’s got good extension, good ride, things like that. When it says 92 up on the board, it’s quite a little bit harder than that. He did a good job.”

Entering the game, the Phillies were batting .284/.362/.616 with 42 runs, 17 homers, and a .978 on-base plus slugging in six postseason home games. But they hit one ball hard against Javier, Schwarber’s scorched foul ball down the first-base line in the third inning.

Javier struck out J.T. Realmuto, Bryce Harper, and Castellanos in succession in the fourth inning before the Astros scored five runs in the fifth against Aaron Nola and reliever José Alvarado. Overall, Realmuto, Harper, Castellanos, and Alec Bohm — the heart of the order — combined to go 0-for-12 with 11 strikeouts.

» READ MORE: Two wins away, two losses away. This Phillies-Astros World Series is now a best-of-three.

And when Realmuto hit a soft roller to third baseman Alex Bregman for the final out, the Astros came streaming out of the dugout to congratulate Pressly on punctuating history.

“We just ran into some good pitching,” Harper said. “It happens. It’s part of the game. Just got to flush that as quick as possible and get back at it tomorrow.”

It was little consolation that the Astros’ offense came in one inning. They loaded the bases in the fifth, chasing Nola with back-to-back-to-back singles. When Jeremy Peña’s skidded through the left side of the infield, Thomson turned to Alvarado, who hadn’t pitched in four days after making nine appearances in a 22-day span since the beginning of the playoffs.

Alvarado was surely rested. But maybe he was rusty. His first pitch hit dangerous lefty slugger Yordan Alvarez to force in a run. Then, he allowed a two-strike, two-run double to Bregman; a sacrifice fly to Kyle Tucker; and an RBI single to Yuli Gurriel.

Before you could say “no-hitter,” the Astros had a 5-0 lead.

“He was just a little bit off,” Thomson said of Alvarado. “That’s a tough situation to bring him in, but we were just trying to keep the damage to a minimum. It just kind of got away from us.”

» READ MORE: Phillies’ Jose Alvarado says extra rest not to blame for ‘off’ performance in Game 4

Thomson was referring to the game. But what about the series?

“He just reminded us what we did after the Mets,” Hoskins said. “We’ve been in this situation before. We’ve been knocked down. We’ve had our backs against the walls, and we’ve responded each time. I don’t see why anything’s different.”

“Now it’s a race to two [wins],” Schwarber said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun coming in tomorrow.”