NEW YORK -- For the second time in as many days, the Astros seemed to be on the verge of a stirring late-game comeback in the Bronx.
Houston roared to life in the eighth inning, tying the game when Christian Walker drew a gutsy bases-loaded walk against David Bednar. But Trent Grisham launched a go-ahead home run off left-hander Bryan King in the bottom half of the frame, downing the Astros in a hard-luck 5-4 loss on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium.
“We fought to the end,” manager Joe Espada said. “One swing away from taking the lead. I like the fight. Just came up a bit short.”
Not much came easily for the Astros in the eighth game of a 10-day, three-city road trip.
Framber Valdez struggled for a second consecutive start, allowing four runs on eight hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings. He recorded just one strikeout while allowing 12 baserunners -- his most in a game since his Opening Day start against the Yankees on March 28, 2024, when he also allowed 12.
“We need to get a little bit more swing and miss,” Espada said. “Today they had a pretty simple approach, trying to hit him up the middle. They were not trying to do too much. A lot of singles up the middle.”
That approach worked well. The Yankees stung Valdez for 12 hard-hit balls, one shy of his single-game season high. On the other hand, Valdez induced just five whiffs -- his second-fewest total in a game this year.
Oddly enough, both of those instances also came in the same game, when Valdez still managed to blank the Phillies across seven innings on June 24.
He wasn’t so fortunate this time.
“Things happen in baseball,” Valdez said. “I wasn’t striking out a whole bunch of people. That’s my game plan all the time -- get the most strikeouts. But it’s stuff that doesn’t work out all the time.”
As a sinkerballer, Valdez relies primarily on his curveball for swing and miss. Entering play on Saturday, Valdez’s curveball generated a 44.5% whiff rate; that would be the highest single-season whiff rate on his curveball since 2022. But it induced just one whiff on five swings against the Yankees.
Espada said the pitch “wasn’t as effective” as it usually is.
“The curveball is a really big part of his arsenal,” Espada said. “When he has that on and he gets ahead, he’s efficient. He gets quick outs. We’ve just got to go back and get him right.”
Valdez -- who pitched to a 1.84 ERA in a 14-game stretch spanning May through July -- has struggled in August. Last Sunday at Fenway Park, a six-run fourth inning marred an otherwise strong outing. Saturday’s start unfolded differently, with Valdez laboring in every frame.
“I’ve had two bad starts [in a row],” Valdez said. “I’ve been trying to make adjustments. It just hasn’t worked out 100% for me.”
Self-inflicted wounds hurt Valdez, too. With the score tied at 2, Valdez worked a full count against Aaron Judge to lead off the fifth inning. Before he could deliver the decisive 3-2 pitch, Valdez was called for a pitch clock violation, gifting Judge a walk.
Judge came around to score the go-ahead run two batters later on a single from Giancarlo Stanton.
“It was my bad,” said Valdez, who didn’t notice the pitch clock. “I have to admit it. It was something that was my fault. I have to try my best and work better.”
Still, the Astros picked Valdez up, clawing their way off the mat. A throwing error from Camilo Doval in the eighth inning brought Jose Altuve to the plate as the potential go-ahead run. Altuve, again relishing the boos, came through, looping a two-strike single into left field to score Cam Smith. Carlos Correa followed with a walk, beckoning Bednar from the bullpen to face Walker with the bases full.
The veteran first baseman fell behind in the count 0-2, but he battled back, earning a walk to plate Jesús Sánchez as the tying run.
But Yainer Diaz and Taylor Trammell -- one of the heroes from Friday -- struck out to strand the bases loaded.
One hit away.
“We just came a bit short today,” Espada said.