Houston Astros' Framber Valdez Tosses Brisk No-Hitter Against Cleveland Guardians

It only took Valdez 93 pitches to retire 27 batters, as a fifth-inning walk was the only thing standing between the Astros' ace and perfection.

Houston Astros left-hander Framber Valdez threw a no-hitter against the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday night, lifting his team to a 2-0 victory.

It only took 93 pitches for Valdez to buzz his way through the Guardians' lineup, as the only thing separating him from a perfect game was a walk to designated hitter Oscar Gonzalez in the fifth inning. However, Valdez escaped that inning by forcing a double play, so he still faced the minimum 27 batters.

Valdez becomes the second player in the majors to throw a solo no-hitter in 2023, joining the New York Yankees' Domingo Germán, who tossed his on June 28. There was only one solo no-hitter in 2022 after there were seven in 2021.

This marks the Astros' first solo no-hitter since Justin Verlander's in 2019. Houston had two combined no-hitters in 2022, including one against the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 4 of the World Series.

There have now been 16 no-hitters in Astros history and 321 in MLB history. Valdez is the first lefty in franchise history to have thrown a no-hitter.

Valdez's 93 pitches in a no-hitter were the fewest since 1999 and the third-fewest since pitch counts started being tracked in 1988, according to MLB.com's Sarah Langs.

The Astros didn't give Valdez much wiggle room to work with, either, scoring just two runs on the night. 24-year-old right-hander Gavin Williams got stuck with the tough-luck loss for Cleveland, only allowing four hits and two runs in 5.0 innings of work, while the Guardians' three relievers allowed two hits and zero runs.

Right fielder Kyle Tucker's two-RBI bloop single in the bottom of the third marked the only run support Valdez was working with.

Valdez is now 9-7 with a 3.07 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP and 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings on the season, spearheading an Astros rotation that has remained remarkably stable. Only seven pitchers have started a game for Houston in 2023, with five of those pitchers accounting for 89 of the team's 108 starts.

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Valdez has the fourth-best odds to win the AL Cy Young at plus-600. Valdez finished 11th in Cy Young voting in 2020 and fifth in 2022.

The Astros added another familiar face to the rotation ahead of Tuesday's trade deadline, agreeing to a deal with the New York Mets that will reunite them with Verlander. The 40-year-old future Hall of Famer helped Houston win the World Series in 2017 and 2022, and now he's back to lend some more star power to the front end of their rotation alongside Valdez.

Houston and Cleveland will continue their series Wednesday at 2:10 p.m. ET. The Astros will be looking to sweep and further solidify their spot in the AL Wild Card race with a win.

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