After making two errors on a single play, Astros starter Framber Valdez held things together to help Houston take a 2-0 lead in the ALCS against the Yankees.
HOUSTON — First, Framber Valdez made a mistake. Then, he made things way worse, and suddenly, the Houston Astros starter found himself trying to prevent Game 2 of the American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees from unraveling.
Valdez was working with a 3-0 lead after Astros third baseman Alex Bregman knocked a three-run homer over the Minute Maid Park left-field porch in the third frame, but a half-inning later in the top of the fourth, the Yankees began mounting a counter-attack.
The New York offense ignited with an Aaron Judge single to start the inning before designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton tapped a bouncer back to the mound. Valdez took a step off the mound to field the ball, which bounced off the heel of his glove onto the ground. As Stanton hurdled toward first base, Valdez scrambled, diving for the ball and making a throw toward first while falling on his knees. The ball hopped past Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel into right field, and in the blink of an eye, Valdez had runners on second and third with no outs.
“I got a little bit too confident with that ground ball,” Valdez said.
A lesser pitcher might not have held things together, but Valdez did. While Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo and second baseman Gleyber Torres each knocked in a run with a groundout and single, respectively, to make the score 3-2, Valdez struck out Josh Donaldson and Kyle Higashioka to end the inning.
