Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez came within one out of history Tuesday night, losing what would have been his second career no-hitter when the Rangers' Corey Seager took him deep to right for a two-run home run in the ninth inning.
Valdez had a perfect game through five, but an error allowed his first baserunner. He would issue three walks the rest of the way with his third being the fateful free pass. He actually walked the leadoff man in the ninth -- his second of the game -- but erased it with a double play. He was then one out away from the no-hitter and missed with a 3-2 pitch to leadoff man Josh Smith. That brought Seager to the plate to see Valdez for the fourth time, always a risky move for a pitcher facing a hitter the caliber of Seager that many times.
Seager made him pay with the home run, driving Valdez out of the game. This was actually the second time in Seager's career he's broken up a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth; he also did so against Matt Moore in 2016.
The Astros are the second team this season to get one out away from a no-hitter before coughing up a homer. The Braves did so on May 11 when the Mets' J.D. Martinez homered.
Astros closer Josh Hader got the final out, though it wasn't easy. He walked Semien and then Josh Jung sent a deep fly to right field that came a few feet from tying the game. Instead it was a warning-track fly out and the Astros prevailed, 4-2. Yordan Alvarez's two-run shot provided necessary insurance for the Astros, as it turned out, in the top of the ninth.
Valdez struck out five and held the Rangers to just three hard-hit balls before the ninth inning.
Valdez would have entered even more exclusive company than simply throwing a no-hitter. He's already done that, on Aug. 1 last season against the Guardians. He would have joined a group of just 35 others with multiple no-hitters. This would have been the 18th no-hitter in Astros franchise history and the second this season, after Ronel Blanco pulled it off on April 1.
The Astros have seen a surge in no-hitters in the last decade. Heading into the 2015 season, there had been 10 in club history with the most recent no-hitter being a combined job -- started by Roy Oswalt -- in 2003. Valdez's would have been the eighth since the start of the 2015 season, a stretch that includes the combined no-hitter in Game 4 of the 2022 World Series.
This would have been the fourth no-hitter of the 2024 season, and the third in 13 days. Blanco's was followed by the Padres' Dylan Cease on July 25 against the Reds and the Giants' Blake Snell against the Reds last Friday.