Framber Valdez was determined to improve this month after a subpar month last month where he posted a 7.29 earned run average.
He certainly did that on Tuesday when he threw the 16th no-hitter in the Houston Astros’ history in a 2-0 victory over the Cleveland Guardians.
“The last couple of games I just wasn’t as focused as I could have been, and I’ll be the first to admit that,” Valdez said in Spanish through a translator. “But today I just came very focused, very positive and just ready to leave it all out on the field.”
Photo: AFP
Hours after the Astros reacquired ace Justin Verlander from the New York Mets, Valdez allowed just one baserunner on a walk in the fifth inning, but still faced the minimum thanks to a double play in that frame.
“It’s a wonderful day,” manager Dusty Baker said. “[Valdez] started out with a bang. He had his breaking ball from the very beginning ... and you could tell he was on and he stayed on.”
Gabriel Arias grounded out to start the ninth before Myles Straw lined out to center field. Cam Gallagher then lined out to Jeremy Pena to end it and set off the celebration.
Valdez (9-7) raised his arms above his head and then clapped as a huge smile crossed his face. He is the first left-hander to throw a no-hitter for Houston.
“When I got to the seventh inning I thought to myself: ‘OK, I can finish this game without any hits,’” Valdez said. “Got to the eighth inning and still felt good, felt like it was still the first inning so I said: ‘I’m just going to continue attacking the hitters, trying to do my best out there.’”
The 29-year-old from the Dominican Republic had pitched five complete games, including two complete game shutouts before Tuesday.
The no-hitter was the third in the majors this season. New York Yankees right-hander Domingo German pitched a perfect game at the Oakland Athletics on June 28, and Matt Manning, Alex Lange and Jason Foley of the Detroit Tigers threw a combined no-no against the Toronto Blue Jays on July 8.
It is Houston’s first no-hitter in the regular season since Cristian Javier, Hector Neris and Ryan Pressly combined to no-hit the Yankees on June 25 last year, and the first by a single pitcher since Verlander against Toronto on Sept. 1, 2019.
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