ARLINGTON -- The best thing left-hander Framber Valdez could do to put his controversial outing against the Yankees on Tuesday in the rearview mirror was to get back on the mound and deliver a solid outing.
He did so on Sunday afternoon in the Astros’ 4-2 loss to the Rangers at Globe Life Field. The question now centers on whether he can build some positive momentum in the final three weeks of the regular season.
Valdez, pitching for the first time since he struck catcher César Salazar in the chest with a crossed-up pitch five days earlier, threw seven strong innings and allowed four runs (three earned) en route to suffering his first career loss at Globe Life Field. (He was 5-0 in his first seven starts at the ballpark.)
Valdez, who was paired with catcher Yainer Diaz -- he has caught 24 of Valdez’s 28 starts this season -- said his focus coming into the game was to be “chill” and not let things bother him when they go awry, which has been a struggle for him throughout this career.
“I learned not to get frustrated, not go crazy and just focus on the next hitter and next pitch I’m going to throw,” he said through interpreter Otto Loor.
That wasn’t the case Tuesday against the Yankees. Two pitches after giving up a grand slam to Trent Grisham -- with Salazar trying to get him to step off the mound before the pitch -- Valdez threw a sinker that struck Salazar, who was expecting a curveball. Valdez said it wasn’t intentional despite not showing any immediate remorse. He later apologized.
“Between César and me, it was a bad moment,” Valdez said on Sunday. “But we kept working and focused on the next outing and working my stuff and having a good outing.”
The loss, combined with Seattle’s win in Atlanta, trimmed Houston’s lead in the American League West to 2 1/2 games over the Mariners and four games over the third-place Rangers with 18 games remaining. The Astros’ final six home games are against the Rangers and the Mariners.
One out away from escaping the sixth inning unscathed, Valdez surrendered three consecutive hits, including a two-run home run by Jake Burger that was the difference in the game. After scoring 11 runs in Saturday’s win, the Astros’ hit-or-miss offense managed only five hits (three singles, two doubles).
“He used his sinker a lot more tonight,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “I thought he had a good feel for it. The curveball, he changed speeds trying to get some swings and misses, but he didn’t have a ton of a feel for it. So he relied on his sinker and changeup … pretty good pitches.”
Valdez, who typically throws 44% sinkers, 33% curveballs and 18% changeups, threw only 28 sinkers from among his 97 pitches. He threw 34 changeups and 33 curveballs. Valdez is at his best when he’s creating whiffs on the curveball and getting ground balls on the sinker.
“I feel like my curveball has always been there,” he said. “There are times when it just doesn’t fall. Sometimes the windup is not right. I’m just focused on throwing it where I’m supposed to throw it.”
A throwing error by Diaz in the second inning gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead, and Houston didn’t manage a hit against Rangers starter Patrick Corbin until the fifth. Jeremy Peña’s RBI single in the sixth tied the game, 1-1.
Valdez struck out the first two batters he faced in the sixth before allowing a single by Cody Freeman and an RBI double by Josh Jung. Burger homered to right field, with the ball clearing the wall just over the glove of a leaping Cam Smith, extending Texas’ lead to 4-1.
“It was a little frustrating, but today I was more chill,” Valdez said. “It has happened before where I’ve made an error -- it was a bad pitch and he was able to hit for a home run, but I was able to focus on getting that out and being able to go out in the next inning and being able to get those three outs, as well.”