Tampa Bay Rays Get to Valdez; Houston Astros Clinch Top Seed in American League

Although Framber Valdez was tagged with six earned runs, the Houston Astros clinched the top seed in the American League.

Author:
Kenny Van Doren
Publish date:
Oct 1, 2022 11:00 AM EDT

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Houston Astros

Following 25-straight quality starts, Framber Valdez has shown he is human. The Houston Astros starting pitcher was roughed up by the Tampa Bay Rays, yielding six runs on nine hits and three walks.

The lefty only struck out two batters. But the Rays didn't find their second lead until the fifth inning. Down 2-1, Randy Arozarena tripled in a run before scoring on a Wander Franco single.

With the lead, Tampa Bay poured it on from there. Jose Siri doubled in a run in the sixth inning as part of his revenge game. Yandy Díaz blew the contest open, driving home two more runs on a double.

Taylor Walls added to the lead in the eighth inning with his eighth home run of the season. The Astros offense wasn't enough to match the Rays' run for a Wild Card berth.

Out of the two hole, Alex Bregman drove his 23rd home run of the season to tie the contest in the first inning. Yuli Gurriel drove in Yordan Álvarez in the second inning for the club's only lead of the night. In garbage time, Gurriel tacked on a third run with a ninth-inning double to score Jake Meyers.

The Astros look to even the series starting at 6:20 p.m. Saturday at Minute Maid Park. Cristian Javier is expected to take the mound against lefty Shane McClanahan. Houston clinched the top seed in the American League on Friday with a New York Yankees loss.