Fastball

Houston Astros Catcher Martin Maldonado Makes Baseball History on Tuesday

By homering off Shohei Ohtani and catching a gem from Framber Valdez, Astros catcher Martin Maldonado made baseball history on Tuesday night.

Brady Farkas

Houston Astros Catcher Martin Maldonado Makes Baseball History on Tuesday
Houston Astros Catcher Martin Maldonado Makes Baseball History on Tuesday /
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You know that old expression, "you never know what you'll see when you go to the ballpark?"

That was definitely the case on Tuesday night in Anaheim as Houston Astros catcher Martin Maldonado made unique baseball history.

The Astros won the game 3-1 and moved to 18-18 on the season. The loss moved the Angels to 20-17.

Now, to the history:

Per @OptaSTATS on Twitter:

Martín Maldonado of the @astros is the first player in MLB history to homer off of a former MVP (Shohei Ohtani) and catch 10+ strikeouts without allowing a walk in the same game.

I would ask "who keeps track of this stuff," but clearly the answer is OptaSTATS.

Lets start with the at-bat for Maldonado. He took Ohtani deep in the top of the fifth inning. It was a two-run homer that gave the Astros a 2-1 lead at the time. It came on an Ohtani slider that caught the middle of the plate.

The home run was impressive for Maldonado considering he's known as a defense-first catcher. He's hitting just .175 this year. That was only his second home run in 80 at-bats. He's a lifetime .208 hitter.

Behind the plate, him catching a gem is a lot less surprising. One of the best defenders in the game, he's a major reason why the Astros have had so much success recently, including a 2022 World Series title. Ace pitcher Framber Valdez moved to 3-4 on the season and lowered his ERA to 2.38.

He ended up striking out 12 batters in eight innings.

The Astros and Angels will play again Wednesday at 4:07 p.m. ET.

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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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