Framber Valdez will face his former team for the second time when the host Detroit Tigers face the Houston Astros on Saturday afternoon.
Valdez (4-5, 3.91 ERA) spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Astros. The left-hander signed a three-year, $115 million contract with the Tigers as a free agent in February.
Valdez delivered one of his best outings of the season against host Houston on June 16, limiting his former teammates to one unearned run and six hits in six innings. He issued three walks but also struck out six.
“I knew I was going to have to face them at some point, no matter what,” he said through an interpreter after the game. “I was ready to treat it like just another game and do my job. Fortunately, I was able to leave the team in position to compete.”
Houston wound up winning the game, 4-2, but the Tigers manager A.J. Hinch came away impressed by Valdez’s poise under the circumstances.
“He was pretty emotional, even though he will try to hide it from you,” Hinch said. “I think he did a great job staying connected to the competition and not letting himself get distracted or feeling any unnecessary pressure. He was able to get some big outs and left the game right where we could’ve hoped.”
Valdez followed that up with another quality start on Monday. He held the visiting New York Yankees to one run and four hits in six innings while equaling his season high with eight strikeouts.
“I feel a big responsibility,” Valdez said. “They paid me what I felt I was worth. They’ve been giving me support. They’ve given me trust. And what I can do is do my best every time I pitch and when I’m not pitching, be there to cheer on and support my guys.”
The Astros contemplated activating right-hander Cristian Javier and starting him on Saturday. Javier has been sidelined since early April by a right shoulder strain.
Instead, the Astros coaching staff decided to have Javier start another game for Triple-A Sugar Land to complete his rehab.
Right-hander Kai-Wei Teng has been chosen to start on Saturday.
“Just trying to get (Javier) one more outing to work on some things that he’s still working on,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Have Teng make one more start and then we’ll see where we go. But having all these options is a good thing. We’re just trying to be smart and make sure these guys are right where they need to be when we need them up here in the big leagues.”
Teng (4-6, 4.03) has appeared in 22 games, including nine starts. In his last outing on Sunday, Teng held Cleveland to one run and four hits in six innings.
Teng has faced Detroit once, giving up five runs in 3 1/3 innings on June 15.
The teams split the first two games of the four-game series. Detroit bounced back from a 2-1 defeat on Thursday with an 8-0 victory on Friday. The Tigers hit three home runs while snapping a three-game losing streak. The Astros had won their previous three contests.
–Field Level Media
