Here's how the Astros' Cristia...

PHILADELPHIA – The baseball sitting on a concrete post in the bowels of Citizens Bank Park is heading to Cooperstown, along with a rosin bag and the scorebook kept by FOX broadcaster John Smoltz during Game 4 of the World Series. The scorebook shows that on Wednesday night in Philadelphia, the Phillies did not record a single hit as the Astros won 5-0. The baseball contains five signatures: Houston Astros catcher Christian Vázquez, relievers Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly, and the man who originally threw it: Cristian Javier, whose name is right under the World Series logo. Together, they threw the first combined no-hitter in postseason history — the second no-hitter ever in the World Series, third ever in the postseason. This season, as pitching dominated and putting the ball in play continued to disappear as an offensive strategy, one pitcher in particular excelled at preventing hits. His .169 batting average against in the regular season was the fourth lowest (minimum 140 innings) since 1920, just above Nolan Ryan’s .171 in 1972. It’s not that surprising that he pitches for the Astros. Combined, Houston’s pitchers allowed the second-fewest hits in baseball (behind the Dodgers) and accumulated the most WAR in the regular season. This postseason has highlighted that their strength is not just sheer ability but also in numbers — there are virtually no weak links on the Astros’ pitching staff. So maybe it stands to reason that — before Wednesday night, anyway — you might’ve needed a couple guesses to get the owner of that historically low opponent batting average. Not Justin Verlander, the presumptive Cy Young award winner. Not Framber Valdez, who set a record for quality starts this season while ascending to co-ace status. And even if you ignored the innings qualifier, it wouldn’t be Lance McCullers Jr., the stalwart of the rotation. Javier works predominantly with two pitches: the four-seam fastball and the slider. (“When you think you got a chance with the fastball and he throws you the slider,” Vázquez said, “and it's a big slider.”) But mostly, it’s the fastball that fools hitters. It’s not fast — at least not relative to a league where velocity reigns and even the average fastball is in the upper 90s this postseason — but its lack of drop makes it look like it’s rising. Because it’s not where hitters expect it to be, it’s called the “invisiball.” And because he stays cool and unflustered in even the most stressful situations, Javier is called “El Reptil.” In a testament to both his ability to roll with the punches and the Astros’ unrelenting phalanx of unhittable pitchers, Javier will now return to the bullpen. Baker admitted postgame that he had already started thinking about how much he could give them in a potential Game 7 — two, maybe three, innings on three days rest after authoring one of the greatest World Series starts of all time.