Mauricio Dubón hit a two-run homer, and Framber Valdez struck out 10 batters in six innings as the Houston Astros came from behind to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4 on Wednesday night.
“It was pretty big, it felt pretty good to help the team win,” Dubón said.
Dubón entered as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning with the Astros trailing 4-3. He hit a 97 mph sinker from reliever Colin Holderman (3-2) off the signage above the left field seats to put Houston ahead. This was Dubón’s first career pinch-hit homer and it helped end the Astros’ three-game losing streak.
“Dubón with people on base, you know you’re going to get contact,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Big swing, huge swing.”
Valdez (10-5) settled down after the second inning and allowed four runs on six hits in six innings, earning his fifth win in his last seven starts. Josh Hader pitched the ninth inning for his 21st save.
“I just thought I was doing something wrong with my mechanics and maybe I just wasn’t executing my pitches, so that’s why I decided to change it,” Valdez said through a translator about pitching out of the stretch after the second inning.
“I started executing my pitches after that and they started getting to where I needed them to get to.”
This is the second time in Valdez’s last three starts that he’s recorded 10 strikeouts, matching his season high.
The Pirates had a 4-0 lead, but three errors by shortstop Oneil Cruz allowed three runs to score for Houston in the second and third innings. Jeremy Peña scored on a wild pitch after reaching base due to Cruz’s throwing error in the second inning.
A fielding and throwing error allowed Chas McCormick to score from first base in the third inning, and Yordan Alvarez to reach third base. Alvarez then scored on a double by Yainer Diaz.
Diaz leads the team with 59 RBIs this season and has been hitting .348 with nine doubles and 36 RBIs since June 3 in a 45-game stretch. He is batting .520 on the Astros’ current homestand.
