Framber Valdez made a five-run lead stand up after Houston’s lightning first-inning burst and Alex Bregman homered as the Astros rushed to a 5-0 lead for the second straight night.
HOUSTON — Framber Valdez swapped his glove and his spikes midgame. He repeatedly rubbed his hands.
Valdez made a five-run lead stand up after Houston’s lightning first-inning burst and Alex Bregman homered as the Astros rushed to a 5-0 lead for the second straight night. Unlike ace Justin Verlander in the opener, Valdez and Houston held on. He threw 42 curveballs among 104 pitches and got six of nine strikeouts with that pitch, three of them looking. He allowed four hits and one run in 6 2/3 innings, giving up a leadoff double in the seventh to Nick Castellanos, who scored on Jean Segura’s sacrifice fly off Rafael Montero.“Nobody should think of it as anything like in the wrong way. I do it out in the open,” he said. “It’s all tendencies I do.