Cristian Javier had a no-hitter through seven innings against the New York Yankees, but Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker pulled him from the game.
The Houston Astros are in the Bronx for a four-game series against the New York Yankees. After splitting the first two games, the Astros had themselves quite the eventful game on Saturday, as they watched a gem pitched by Cristian Javier.
Through seven innings, Javier carried a no-hitter after striking out 13 batters and walking one on 115 pitches. Yet, he did not come out for the eighth inning. Astros fans and MLB fans as a whole were initially not exactly thrilled by the decision, despite the high pitch count.
Twitter reacts about Cristian Javier getting pulled with a no-hitter
https://twitter.com/DonyellFreak/status/1540781144110616576
While pulling a starter from a no-hitter is never the popular move, the fact of the matter is that 115 pitches is a lot. Manager Dusty Baker made the decision to pull him, and it worked out tremendously.
Hector Neris entered the bottom of the eighth inning. Although he walked two of the first three batters he faced, Neris was able to get out of the jam by getting Joey Gallo to fly out and getting Aaron Judge out on a forceout to end the inning.
For the bottom of the ninth, Ryan Pressly received the call to the mound. He struck out Anthony Rizzo and Josh Donaldson in the first two at-bats and ended the game by getting Giancarlo Stanton to ground out to secure the no-hitter.
Long story short, while some may have been upset that Javier was pulled seven innings into his no-hitter, he is a part of a combined no-hitter.