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Houston Astros' Framber Valdez Joins Elite Franchise History with Another Great Start

The Houston Astros beat the New York Mets on Tuesday night as lefty Framber Valdez out-dueled former teammate Justin Verlander. In the performance, Valdez joined an elite club in team history.

Brady Farkas

Houston Astros' Framber Valdez Joins Elite Franchise History with Another Great Start
Houston Astros' Framber Valdez Joins Elite Franchise History with Another Great Start /
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The Houston Astros beat the New York Mets on Tuesday night a score of 4-2 as lefty Framber Valdez out-dueled his former teammate Justin Verlander.

Valdez went eight innings in the win, which moved him to 7-5 on the season. He allowed four hits, two runs, one walk and recorded nine strikeouts.

Verlander went seven innings, allowing four runs on eight hits. He's now 2-4 on the year.

With another dominant performance, Valdez joined an elite club in team history.

Per ESPN Stats & Info:

Framber Valdez is the 4th pitcher in Astros franchise history to record 100 strikeouts and 25 earned runs or less through a pitcher’s first 15 games of a season, joining: 

2018 Justin Verlander 

1987 Mike Scott 

1980 J.R. Richard

When you think of aces, you don't necessarily think of Valdez, but you should start thinking of him. His season ERA is now 2.27 and he appears a lock for an All-Star Game Selection. He's got 104 strikeouts on the season in 99 innings.

His performance has been extra important to the Astros considering the long-term injuries to Jose Urquidy and Luis Garcia.

For his career, Valdez is 48-28 with a 3.20 ERA. He made his major league debut in 2018 and was an integral part of the Astros World Series run in 2022.

The Astros are currently 40-34 and in third place in the American League West.

They'll take on the Mets again on Wednesday at 2:10 p.m. ET.

Cristian Javier pitches for Houston while Tylor Megill goes for New York.

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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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