On the day the Astros added one ace, another re-announced his presence. All-Star left-hander Framber Valdez threw the 16th no-hitter in Astros history during a 2-0 win against the Guardians at Minute Maid Park on Tuesday night, taking some of the attention away from Houston’s blockbuster acquisition of Justin Verlander that afternoon.
All strikeouts, no hits. pic.twitter.com/WgCAzT8Pgk
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 2, 2023
Valdez entered the outing seeking a bounce-back. He boasted a 7.00 ERA in his past five starts and had surrendered 15 earned runs in his past 15 innings, somewhat increasing the front office’s urgency to add a starting pitcher at the trade deadline.
“I think the last couple games I just wasn’t as focused as I could have been,” Valdez said through an interpreter after the win. “I’ll be the first to admit that.
Advertisement
“Today, I came very focused, very positive and just ready to lay it all out on the field today. I felt my repertoire was pretty good with my curveball, my changeup, my sinker and all my pitches. I felt they were working today and I was able to throw strikes. I threw strikes without any fear today.”
Tuesday demonstrated how lethal Houston’s new-look rotation could be. Valdez threw the first solo no-hitter by an Astros pitcher since Verlander accomplished the feat on Sept. 1, 2019, against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
“Hey man, sometimes I believe in numerology,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “It was sort of destined to be. I’m sure Justin is smiling right now and on his way here. He’ll be probably the first one to congratulate Framber when he gets here.”
Valdez is also the first left-handed pitcher to throw a no-hitter in Astros history. He needed 93 pitches to retire the minimum 27 batters he faced. Valdez’s performance was a “Maddux,” too, meaning a shutout on fewer than 100 pitches. Only Oscar Gonzalez’s fifth-inning walk prevented Valdez from a perfect game.
Will Brennan bounced into a double play to erase Gonzalez at first base and extricate Valdez from the jam. The outing was vintage Valdez, a groundball clinic by a sinkerballer who thrives on early, groundball contact. Twelve of Cleveland’s outs arrived on the ground and seven more were strikeouts.
Seventy-five of Valdez’s 93 pitches were either sinkers or curveballs. Cleveland put one ball in play hit harder than 100 mph and had a .151 expected batting average. The no-hitter furthered Valdez’s ascension from unheralded, $10,000 international signee to bona fide ace.
GO DEEPER
How Framber Valdez grew from unwanted prospect to dependable starter
“I think we all kind of noticed that the velocity was there,” Guardians catcher Cam Gallagher said. “His movement on his sinker and his changeup, cutter and his curveball, I think he had really good command of it. At the end of the day, we have to tip our cap to him, but it’s frustrating for sure.”
Advertisement
The Guardians were no-hit three times in 2021 (plus a fourth time in a seven-inning game). Cleveland hasn’t thrown a no-hitter since Len Barker’s perfect game on May 15, 1981, the longest drought in the league.
The Guardians were without Josh Naylor, who was scratched about two and a half hours before the first pitch with right side tightness, and Josh Bell, who was traded about two hours before the first pitch. They were originally penciled into the fourth and fifth spots in manager Terry Francona’s lineup. Cleveland second baseman Tyler Freeman also exited the game with shoulder soreness.
GO DEEPER
With no-hitter, Framber Valdez takes back center stage on a seismic day for Astros
Required reading
- Valdez wanted to start the All-Star Game but understands why Astros said no
- Valdez, ‘La Grasa,’ comes into his swaggy, sweet-smelling own
(Photo: Logan Riely / Getty Images)