'Felt Like I Never Left.' Tyler Mahle's Texas Rangers Debut Overshadowed By Astros' Framber Valdez's Near No-Hitter

Tyler Mahle held the Astros to a run on five hits over five innings in his first MLB start since April 27, 2023.

Aug 6, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Tyler Mahle (51) throws during the first inning against the Houston Astros at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

ARLINGTON — The Houston Astros' near no-hitter Tuesday night sort of a buried a big development for the Texas Rangers.

Right-hander Tyler Mahle was excellent in his Rangers debut.

Mahle, who has been recovering from May 2023 Tommy John surgery, was signed during the offseason to a two-year deal. He held the Astros to a run on five hits and a walk over five innings. Only one of the five hits was hit hard, a first-inning double by Alex Bregman had an exit velocity of 96.3 mph. Two of the hits were bloopers of less than 73 mph exit velocity, including a run-scoring bloop that dropped in front of Adolis Garcia in right-field. The Astros won 4-2.

"It felt great. It felt like I never left. I was really happy to be able to go out and compete with these guys," said Mahle, who threw 76 pitches, including 49 strikes. He's likely to stretch out deeper in his next start as he builds up his stamina.

'[You] trust the process. I know it's cliché, but they laid out the whole plan for me, so just trusting that if I hit each milestone I was going to get to this day," Mahle said. "And we're here and I'm happy it went the way it did for me, just to get the first one out of the way. Obviously, we took a tough loss, but getting the first one out of the way was huge."

Astros left-hander Framber Valdez took a no-hitter into the ninth and was an out away before Corey Seager's two-run homer broke it up. Mahle said he wasn't paying too much attention to the night Valdez was having.

"No, not really. It also helps with the way our dugout is, everyone is sitting in front of you so I couldn't really watch the game where I was sitting," he said. "So I was able to focus on what I'm able to control, which is to go out there and make good pitches and let the defense work for me today. Only two strikeouts so they had to do that, and they did a great job."

"Try to go out there and make good pitches and let defense work for me today." - Tyler Mahle on his first start since Tommy John surgery.
@Rangers | #StraightUpTX | @BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/spwlFNfETn

— Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) August 7, 2024

Mahle, who turns 30 on Sept. 29, last pitched a Major League game on April 27, 2023, for the Minnesota Twins. He was shut down afterward and had Tommy John a month later. He signed a two-year, $22 million deal with the Rangers in December.

"He really looked good, didn't he. His first time out, he just has a calmness about him. Thought he located well," Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. "It was a long road for him, so to come out and throw like that in his first game, he's got to feel good about it."

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