Travelers go quietly vs. Valdez
Chuck Taylor spoiled the opposing pitcher’s fireworks show in the sixth inning with a crack of his own, a double to right field that ended Corpus Christi left-hander Framber Valdez’s no-hit bid on Independence Day at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
Valdez was through 52/3 innings on 66 pitches when Taylor approached the plate, having struck out in his previous two at-bats. Valdez left a 2-0 pitch over the middle, and the Texas League’s third-leading hitter drove it far enough to bounce off the reaching glove of Hooks right-fielder Ramon Laureano.
Valdez (1-1, 2.25 ERA) eventually earned the Hooks’ 4-1 victory over the Arkansas Travelers, pitching 6 innings with 2 hits, 1 earned run, 3 walks and 9 strikeouts before an announced crowd of 8,753. The 23-year-old was called up two days prior from Class A-Advanced Buies Creek, where he was 2-3 with a 2.79 ERA.
“I knew I was coming, and I prepared myself for these guys,” said Valdez, who ascended four classifications in the Houston Astros’ system in 2016. “I knew I was going into the inning without a hit, but that’s how the game goes.”
The Hooks had established a 3-0 lead by the sixth.
The Travs knocked Valdez out in the seventh after left fielder Dario Pizzano walked and catcher Tyler Marlette hit a line drive single to right field. Hooks right-hander reliever Ryan Thompson surrendered one run on right fielder Kyle Waldrop’s ground out to first.
“It helped get the spirit up a little bit, breaking up that nono,” said Taylor, who said he was “really mad” before he hit his double because Valdez had struck him out twice.
Taylor went 2 for 4 with a single in the eighth that put runners on the corners with one out. Travs first baseman Ryan Casteel grounded into a double play to end the team’s final threat of the game.
Travs right-hander Justin DeFratus (2-4, 5.84 ERA) pitched 6 innings with 2 earned runs, 1 walk and 2 strikeouts. It was the fourth consecutive quality start (6 or more innings, 3 or fewer runs) by a Travs pitcher, but Valdez’s performance stopped the Travs’ winning streak at three.
The streak of quality starts is a stark difference from what had come to be expected from Travs’ starters. Prior to Saturday, Travs’ pitching had a 7.82 ERA during the first inning and an overall team ERA of 4.37, which ranked seventh out of eight teams in the Texas League.
The team’s current ERA (4.23) remains seventh in the Texas League, but the streak sparked three consecutive victories and stopped a two-game losing streak. Together, righthanders Dylan Unsworth (66, 3.80), Tyler Herb (6-4, 3.31) and Lindsey Caughel (5-7, 5.01) had a 1.38 ERA with 20 hits, 4 earned runs and 17 strikeouts in 26 innings.
The bullpen also held solid, with nine pitchers surrendering just one run in 13 innings of work.
The pitching staff held a meeting before the Texas League All-Star break to address the need for a change, said Herb, who was traded to the San Francisco Giants on Monday in exchange for cash considerations.
“It’s just about a shift in focus — not that anybody wasn’t trying,” DeFratus said. “Just focusing on the spots where we have been beating ourselves. Hopefully we continue to stay where we are and rally off a few more wins, because it’s going to work.”