Houston Astros Ace Looking Dominant Heading Into Postseason

With 12 games remaining in the regular season, the Houston Astros are now sitting with a one-and-a-half game lead in the AL West.

Despite dropping four of six against the Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals, the Astros are getting closer to their third consecutive division title, despite some struggles that have been taking place.

On Sunday, Houston's ace Framber Valdez was handed the ball and tasked with stopping the two-game losing streak.

He delivered a dominant outing, pitching seven shutout innings, allowing five hits and striking out five batters. He has started to show signs that he's returning to the top of his game right before the playoffs begin.

After getting through June with a 2.49 ERA on the season, Valdez struggled mightily in July, posting a 7.29 ERA and not getting past the seventh inning during his four starts.

A no-hitter at the beginning of August seemed like a turning point, but the lefty continued to struggle for the majority of his starts that month, allowing six earned runs twice.

Valdez now looks like the elite pitcher he's become in recent years, posting a 3-1 record with a 1.59 ERA in his last five starts.

"You go through starts where you are adding on, adding on, adding consecutive games that your confidence grows. We need Framber. It was big for him," Dusty Baker said after the game.

The left hander is an important piece for this Astros team looking to win back to back World Series titles. With an injured pitching rotation compared to last year, they are relying on a 40-year-old Justin Verlander, two rookies and struggling veteran Christian Javier.

If Valdez isn't playing up to his high-end level, this will be one of the weakest starting rotations in the MLB playoffs based on recent form.

As Baker said, Houston needs Valdez. He is one of the biggest keys to a deep postseason run this year.