Framber Valdez pitched through the seventh inning without allowing any hits, and Yordan Alvarez smashed two of Houston’s four home runs in their 5-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.
Valdez didn’t give up a hit until the seventh inning started. He only allowed two hits and one run while striking out four batters in seven innings.
“I felt confident with my pitches right from the start,” Valdez said, speaking through a translator. “They were doing what I wanted, hitting the right spots for strikes.”
Alvarez hit a two-run homer against Joe Ryan in the first inning, and his solo shot in the fifth increased Houston’s lead to 5-0. It’s Alvarez’s third multi-homer game of the season and 18th of his career.
“I felt like I was playing like the usual Yordan,” Alvarez said through a translator.
José Abreu, who has been struggling, hit his first home run of the season in the second inning. Kyle Tucker also contributed with a home run in the third, marking his 19th this season, the second most in the majors after Aaron Judge’s 20.
In the ninth inning with Houston leading 5-2, Jake Meyers made a spectacular catch at the wall in center field to prevent Byron Buxton from hitting a home run. Closer Josh Hader celebrated the catch, and Buxton acknowledged Meyers’s effort by tipping his helmet.
Valdez breezed through the first six innings, facing only one batter over the minimum. He got crucial assistance from his defense in the third inning when Tucker made a leaping catch at the right field wall to catch a fly ball hit by Farmer.
The Twins finally got their first hit in the seventh inning when Margot singled to center field. Margot then scored on a single by Jose Miranda, narrowing Houston’s lead to 5-1.
