Fastball

Houston Astros' Lefty Joins Rare Club After Excellent Outing on Friday

Framber Valdez of the Houston Astros was vying for his second no-hitter of the month on Friday night but the Astros ended up losing to the Detroit Tigers.
Brady Farkas|
Houston Astros' Lefty Joins Rare Club After Excellent Outing on Friday
Houston Astros' Lefty Joins Rare Club After Excellent Outing on Friday

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Houston Astros

Houston Astros' left-hander Framber Valdez joined a small and exclusive group in baseball history on Friday night with a dominant performance against the Detroit Tigers.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

Framber Valdez is the 5th pitcher in the expansion era (1961) with a no-hitter AND a no-hit bid of 7+ IP in a calendar month, joining: 

Derek Lowe, April 2002 

Nolan Ryan, July 1973 

Vida Blue, September 1970

 Steve Barber, April 1967 

h/t @EliasSports

Valdez threw 7.0 scoreless innings in his effort. He walked five and struck out six. His ERA for the season is now 3.40.

Unfortunately for him - and the Astros - the bullpen imploded after his departure. Closer Ryan Pressly gave up four runs in the ninth inning as the Astros lost 4-1.

It was a critical loss for Houston,  who has now lost three games in a row and has fallen to 72-58 on the season. They are in third place now in the American League West, 1.0 game behind the Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers. They are also just holding onto the the third and final wild card spot, which they lead the race for by 1.5 games.

The Tigers are now 59-69 on the season.

The two teams will play again on Saturday night with the first pitch from Comerica Park coming at 6:10 p.m. ET.

Astros rookie right-hander Hunter Brown will pitch against Tigers veteran lefty Eduardo Rodriguez.

Brown is 9-9 this year with a 4.50 ERA while Rodriguez is 9-6 with a 3.03 ERA.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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