That's four no-nos caught as an Astro for Martin Maldonado. Justin Verlander, Cristian Javier et al v1, Cristian Javier et al v2, and now Framber Valdez. And as of yesterday, that means 3/5ths of the Houston rotation has a no-no in the last 5 years.
The second I saw Framber Valdez was hitless through 5, I just sort of...thought about it. Do I want this or don't I? I mean, it's against Cleveland, and yes it's Houston and we don't want them to win, but the Rangers were pulling out a win anyway to stay atop the AL West. And it's not like it was Javier again, or against one of my teams again, or something devious. Framber Valdez is a great pitcher, he's this good all the time, he's hitless through 5...instead of jinxing it, I just let it go. Didn't check the score again til after it finished. Which was the correct tactic.
Look...a game like this in a week like this could mean that the Astros still end up lapping the Rangers and leading us towards another disappointing outcome, but like...I'm kinda glad this no-no happened anyhow. Y'know, Valdez may be the most talented guy they have left, he deserved an accolade like this. Plus, it does add to the slow trend of solo no-hitters we're seeing more of than last year; German had his, now Valdez has his. It's still something that's possible, even as more pitchers are only going for 5 innings per start.
It's a very cool moment that I'm gonna enjoy while it lasts, because I reckon the Astros are gonna get mighty infuriating awfully soon.
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