HOUSTON — After receiving a checked swing call by first base umpire Phil Cuzzi on a crucial 3-2 pitch to Royals’ Freddy Fermin, a competitive Framber Valdez jumped behind the mound in disbelief. His Astros teammates and pitching coach Josh Miller huddled up on the mound.
Valdez smiled, calmly regrouped and focused on the next batter Friday night.
He turned his attention to righty Nick Loftin. On a 2-2 count, the Astros’ Dominican southpaw punched Loftin out with a 80-mph curveball on the outside corner. Valdez walked off the mound at Minute Maid Park after seven no-hit innings. As he headed to the dugout, a crowd of 37,279 gave the ace a standing ovation.
“I think after the sixth inning I was thinking about the no-hitter,” Valdez said after Jose Altuve walked off the Royals 3-2. “After the sixth inning going to the seventh, you only have two, three more innings left. That’s when I started thinking about it, but before that not really.”
Valdez threw 98 pitches coming out of the seventh. It marked the third time he has finished a start without allowing a hit in his career. There was a possibility he could’ve trotted back to the mound in the eighth, but he trusted his teammates and his manager Joe Espada.
IT'S LOUD IN THE JUICE BOX. pic.twitter.com/F6MXAwulcJ
“No, it was my option to come out of the game there,” Valdez said. “Obviously we have other pitchers and have resilient players. It was my option to come out of the game there and try to put the team in a position to win the game.”
Astros reliever Bryan Abreu came into the eighth inning and quickly retired pinch-hitters Michael Massey and MJ Melendez. Kyle Isbel then hit for Tyler Gentry, the Royals’ No. 9 hitter. Isbel broke up the no-hit bid with a ground ball single to left.
Framber Valdez, Filthy Curveballs. 😷 pic.twitter.com/ISC9RsJXb7
Astros closer Josh Hader, who had converted 29 consecutive save chances, gave up a game-tying two-run homer to Paul DeJong. Jose Altuve walked it off with a 2-out RBI double off the Crawford Boxes in left to score Jake Meyers in the bottom of the ninth.
“They tied the game with a big swing late in the game,” Altuve said. “The fact Jake got on base and gave me the opportunity to score the run there, come back, and win this game was huge.”
Framber Valdez has pitched well after the All-Star break. The two-time All-Star has an 8-1 record, a 2.35 ERA, 91 strikeouts and a .216 opponent batting average in his last 12 starts. The Astros are 10-1 in those starts.
In addition, since June 1, Valdez is 10-3 with a 2.53 ERA. He’s tied for first in wins (10) with his teammate Hunter Brown, and second in ERA (2.53) in the American League in that span.
“Almost going the whole entire year, second half right,” Espada said of Framber Valdez. “His stuff is so good. Efficient, composed, going after hitters, getting big outs, getting his ground balls when he needs to. He’s just really, really good.”
The Astros pitching staff has been the best in Major League Baseball. The starting rotation has a major-league best 2.48 ERA, and 138 strikeouts since August 1. Moreover, their starters carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning for the fifth time this season.
The Astros have lost five starting pitchers and have struggled to have a healthy starting rotation this season. Both Jose Urquidy and Cristian Javier underwent Tommy John surgery in early June. Rookie J.P. France underwent right shoulder surgery. Lance McCullers Jr. and Luis Garcia couldn’t recover successfully in time to pitch this season.
After a 7-19 start to begin the season, no one saw this rotation making a vast impact. Three-time Cy Young winner Justin Verlander recently returned off the injured list (neck discomfort). Though, hard-throwing Hunter Brown, Ronel Blanco, Spencer Arrighetti and newly acquired Yusei Kikuchi have played a pivotal role in the team’s turnaround.
“They’re giving us an opportunity everyday to win,” Altuve said of the Astros’ starting rotation. “They go out there and we have like two, or three no-hitters going to the sixth (inning) in the last week.“Obviously that’s good. Like a team like this with good hitters, and I think giving us the chance to score runs, and win the game it’s going to be huge, especially at the end of the season like we are right now, trying to go and stay in first place. It’s going to be good.”
Lorenzo Delgado graduated with his bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and is currently attending the University of Houston to earn his master’s degree. Lorenzo was formerly a contributing baseball writer for Call to the Pen on the Fansided Network. He is the host of an Astros baseball podcast called Full Seam Ahead, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and wherever podcasts are found.
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