Framber Valdez: Everything you need to know

Valdez (2-1) tallied the win Sunday against the Red Sox, allowing one run on three hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out seven. The star left-hander flooded the zone Sunday, firing 70 of his 98 offerings for strikes en route to fanning a season-high seven. Valdez has now worked at least six innings and given up one or zero runs in four of his first five starts, though the other outing during this span was an eight-run implosion in Minnesota. Valdez owns a strong 3.30 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 20:9 K:BB over 30 frames overall, but he has a fairly tough assignment for his next outing at hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park versus the Reds.

Valdez's scheduled start Sunday against the Red Sox has been pushed back three hours due to expected rain in Boston, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports. An extended period of rain is forecasted for Boston from midday into the afternoon, prompting the game to be moved back from its scheduled start time of 1:35 p.m. ET to 4:35 p.m. ET. Valdez will square off against Red Sox lefty Garrett Crochet.

Valdez came away with a no-decision in Tuesday's 2-1 win over the Royals, allowing one run on three hits and two walks over seven innings. He struck out one. In a battle of left-handed aces, Valdez matched up with Cole Ragans and exited the mound after 87 pitches (58 strikes) in line for the loss, but Detroit pushed across two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to flip the script. Valdez has produced three quality starts in his first four trips to the mound for the Tigers, and he'll take a 3.75 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 13:7 K:BB through 24 innings into his next outing, which is set to come on the road this weekend in Boston.