'Get the gum bucket ready': Paredes calls 1st walk-off HR

HOUSTON -- Isaac Paredes told his teammates before he led off the bottom of the ninth that he was going to end it.

He called it.

Framber Valdez threw eight stellar innings, and Paredes hit a walk-off solo home run in the ninth as the Astros beat the Royals, 2-1, on Tuesday night at Daikin Park.

“Just being positive up there,” Paredes said via translator when asked why he called his shot. “If I hit it, then I hit it, but if I didn’t, whatever.”

Paredes led off the ninth and took an 0-1 offering from John Schreiber and deposited it into the Crawford Boxes in left field for his first career walk-off home run. It was Paredes third career walk-off hit and the first walk-off hit for the Astros this season.

“For me, he made some really good defensive plays, too, so we need to recognize and highlight the fact this guy is playing a really good third base. He saves a ton of runs,” Houston manager Joe Espada said.

“It’s just his at-bats. The way he walks, he stays in the zone, he hits the ball hard. We talk about the Crawford Boxes are made for him. He showed that today. He actually called that home run. He said ‘I’m going to hit a home run on the slider. Get the gum bucket ready.’ They got the bucket ready, and he hit a home run.”

Paredes’ home run backed up another phenomenal outing from Valdez, who yielded one run on six hits with seven strikeouts.

“That was really damn good,” Espada said of Valdez. “Twelve ground-ball outs. Some double plays. Sinker, changeup, curveball, he did everything. He made it tough on me there in the end. He was really, really good. It’s his game. That’s his game. That’s the Framber that we’ve seen for years. It’s really hard to go out there and take the ball away from him because when he’s on, he’s on.”

He had a second straight strong outing after allowing one run in seven innings in his last start Wednesday at Milwaukee.

“Making less mistakes and staying focused,” Valdez said via translator when discussing the changes he has made over his past two starts. “When you make less mistakes, you’re going to have better results for your team. Keeping the ball low in the zone.”

Valdez was efficient, cruising through the Royals’ order the first time on 23 pitches, including a six-pitch, two-minute first inning. He retired the first nine batters he faced on six groundouts and three strikeouts.

Houston’s defense helped Valdez out, turning three double plays.

“Confidence, execution, preparation,” Espada said of his left-hander. “The defense behind him responded. He keeps everyone on their toes when he’s working fast, getting quick outs. Phenomenal job.”

Valdez relied mostly on a curveball, sinker, changeup mix on Tuesday night. He threw 24 changeups, 29 sinkers and 34 curveballs out of his 89 pitches.

“The fastball was working today, and the sinker was working today, but I think the curveball-changeup combination is the best,” Valdez said.

The Royals threatened in the eighth with runners on first and second with two outs and Bobby Witt Jr. up. Espada stuck with Valdez, who rewarded his manager for the confidence by inducing a groundout by Witt to end the inning.

“It’s Framber Valdez on the mound,” Espada said. “He’s a damn good pitcher. So I get it. I have a lot of respect for Bobby Witt Jr., but I have a lot of confidence in my left-handed pitcher.”

After Kansas City took a 1-0 lead on a Freddy Fermin RBI single in the fifth, Jeremy Peña tied it with a home run to the Crawford Boxes to lead off the sixth.

Peña, who went 2-for-4, has hit safely in 15 of his past 16 games and 29 of his past 31 games. He moved to the leadoff spot in the batting order on April 27 and has been a consistent force there since.

“He has really embraced his spot, and I’m excited about what he’s doing,” Espada said. “We just got to sustain that approach and keep it. He has gotten pretty good at it.”