Framber Valdez Puts Near No-Hitter Into Perspective: ‘I Won & I Battled’

Astros pitcher Framber Valdez

Framber Valdez came so, so close to throwing the fourth no-hitter of the Major League Baseball season and the third since the All-Star Game. The Houston Astros pitcher held the Texas Rangers down for 8.2 innings, only needing to retire Corey Seager to etch his name in the history books.

Valdez threw a first-pitch cutter and Seager deposited it into the right field seats for a two-run home run. Josh Hader came on to finish the game and the Astros won, 4-2.

“I’m happy,” Valdez said after the game, per MLB.com’s Brian McTaggart. “Not everybody gets to get a no-hitter all the way to the ninth inning. For me, the most important thing is the team won and I won and I battled.”

It’s a diplomatic answer, but one could forgive him for replaying that pitch to Seager in his head. Had he gotten that final out, he would have been only the second Astros pitcher ever to throw two no-hitters in a Houston uniform (Don Wilson, 1967 and 1969).

“I thought maybe about throwing the sinker there, but my cutter was still fairly good and he was able to hit it out,” Valdez said. “He’s a tremendous hitter and that’s what he goes up there to try to do, is hit the ball.”

Oddly, Seager became the first player in MLB history to break up two no-hitters with two outs in the ninth inning. He spoiled Giants pitcher Matt Moore’s bid in 2016 with a bloop single.

“I think once I get to the seventh inning, that’s when I always tell myself, ‘All right I need to throw this no-hitter,’” Valdez said. “It was a perfect game or no-hitter and I haven’t allowed any hits or no runs, that’s when I tell myself, ‘OK, I need to go finish this.’ It didn’t happen. It’s fine, but I battled today.”

Joe Espada: ‘The Team Needed That Win’

The Astros came into their game Tuesday night losers of three straight, with the Seattle Mariners overtaking them for first place in the American League West over the weekend.

Valdez going eight-and-two-thirds gave the bullpen a rest before a day game on Wednesday.

“The team needed that win,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Framber, to go deep gave our bullpen a little break there, even though we had to use Josh. It was a really great team win.”

Espada added that while he thought Valdez would be able to complete the no-hitter, he did see his pitcher start to overthrow as the ninth inning wore on. Valdez walked leadoff hitter Robbie Grossman before inducing a double-play to bring up Seager.

“I’m like, ‘Oh, he’s going to finish it,’” Espada said. “It looked like he was trying to overthrow a little bit. He earned the right to go after Seager.”

Framber Valdez Has Hit His Stride

On an Astros team that has claimed the likes of Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, and Zack Greinke in recent years, it’s easy to overlook Valdez. But he’s been a consistent presence in Houston’s rotation since 2021, leading the league in innings pitched in 2022 and earning two All-Star nods.

Valdez got off to a solid start in 2024 but has been on a different level in his last five starts. Including his near no-hitter, Valdez is 4-0 with a 2.41 ERA since July 10. More impressively, he struck out 10 batters in three of those five starts, with one of the exceptions being his near-historic outing Tuesday.

“That’s exactly what we need,” Espada said after Valdez threw 6.1 scoreless innings against the Dodgers on July 26. “He knows that we are counting on him. He’s been our Opening Day starter for the last three years. He’s a big piece.”