The Houston Astros showed signs of life in the 2023 American League Championship Series against the Texas Rangers, as they eked out an 8-5 win in Arlington Wednesday night. That victory cut the Rangers' series lead in half and it likely wouldn't have been possible without the excellent performance of Cristian Javier on the mound.

Javier answered the call and churned out a solid start, allowing only two earned runs on three hits with three strikeouts and just a walk issued in 5.2 innings of work versus the Rangers. He was definitely in a much better form than Rangers starter Max Scherzer, who got charged with five earned runs through four innings on the mound.

With Javier's steady pitching, he was also able to set a new MLB playoffs record, per ESPN Stats & Info.

“Cristian Javier has held opponents to a .071 BA through his first four career postseason starts. That's the lowest opponent BA in any 4-start span in MLB postseason history.”

His first start in the 2023 MLB postseason came in Game 3 of the American League Division Series against the Minnesota Twins on the road in which he pitched for five scoreless innings to lead the Astros to a 9-1 victory. In his final two postseason appearances (both starts) in 2022, Javier gave up zero runs and just a hit with 14 strikeouts through 11.1 innings against the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies.

Javier got a big lift as well from the offense of the Astros, with Houston scoring all of the first four runs in the Rangers game.