Valdez goes 8 innings as Astros take 3-2 ALCS lead
Framber Valdez lost his perfect game in the fifth inning and then bounced the next pitch off the batter’s leg.
Astros manager Dusty Baker headed for the mound.
“It was surprising more than anything,” Valdez said, noting that a visit from the manager usually means his night is over. “The first thing I did was look back to the bullpen to see if anyone was out there. I saw nobody was there.
“He just came out and told me ... ‘You know what you’re doing out here, so just breathe,’” Valdez said. “He gave me the confidence to get out of the inning.”
And much more than that. Perfect through four, the Houston left-hander took a two-hit shutout into the seventh and became the first pitcher this postseason to complete eight innings, leading the Astros over Boston 9-1 on Wednesday for a 3-2 lead in the AL Championship Series.
Yordan Alvarez had three hits and three RBIs for Houston, which could clinch a second trip to the World Series in three years with a victory at home tonight.
The Red Sox need a win to force a deciding seventh game Saturday.
“We came back to Boston exactly where we wanted to be: We were 1-1,” Red Sox starter Chris Sale said. “Not in a good spot going back to Houston. There’s no denying that, but this team has won two games in the playoffs back-to-back before.”
One day after the Astros scored seven runs to break a ninth-inning tie, they hung another crooked number on the Fenway Park scoreboard, chasing Sale while scoring five runs in the sixth. Alvarez,
who homered in the second and singled in the fourth, had a two-run double to break things open.
That was plenty for Valdez, who extended the staff ’s shutout streak to 14 straight innings before Rafael Devers homered with one out in the seventh — one of three Boston hits.
Valdez departed after retiring the Red Sox in order in the eighth — completing three full turns through the Boston lineup, a dramatic break from the prevailing baseball wisdom.
“It makes me feel great” to show that starters can still have that kind of impact on a game, Baker said.
“Today, it was in the hands of Framber,” he said. “This was in this hands of Framber, and, really, in the hands of Alvarez.”
In all, Valdez gave up one run on three hits, one walk and a hit batter, striking out five. He was also the first opposing pitcher to last eight innings in a postseason start at Fenway since Cleveland’s Charles Nagy went eight in the 1998 Division Series.
Ryne Stanek pitched a perfect ninth while the rest of Houston’s relievers rested. Astros starters had not lasted three innings all series, pitching to a 18.90 ERA in the first four games and giving up 10 homers — including a record three grand slams.
Valdez was not much better, allowing two earned runs in 2 2/3 innings in Game 1.
“I didn’t get frustrated at all. I wasn’t down on myself,” Valdez said. “I just worked the entire time and I had my mindset set that I was just going to come out and have a way better outing.”
Valdez retired the first 12 batters — eight on grounders, four on strikeouts. Devers singled to lead off the fifth, then Valdez bounced the next pitch off J.D. Martinez’s leg. The Astros escaped when Hunter Renfroe grounded into a double play and Alex Verdugo bounced out to first.
“Everybody knew he had a no-hitter, and then they get a hit, and then he hits the batter,” Baker said. “That’s the time that you’ve really got to settle him down.”
Sale started almost as well, allowing two hits — both to Alvarez — in his first five innings. But he walked Jose Altuve to start the sixth, then Michael Brantley nubbed one toward third. Devers fielded it and made the throw in time but Kyle Schwarber dropped it at first; after sliding into second, Altuve popped up and took off for third, which was uncovered.
Brantley moved up to second on a groundout to the pitcher, then Alvarez doubled to left, scoring two to make it 3-0 and chasing Sale. Ryan Brasier struck out Carlos Correa before giving up an RBI double to Yuli Gurriel and a two-run single to Jose Siri that made it 6-0.