2020 MLB postseason: At number 2, Framber Valdez for Zack Greinke.
Astros manager Dusty Baker set himself up for second-guessing four innings into Tuesday’s game between Houston and the Twins in Minnesota.
The Twins led Greinke’s Astros 1-0 at that point thanks to Nelson Cruz’s third-inning run-producing double. Coming off a 3-3 season in a dozen regular-season starts, Greinke had allowed just one other hit. But he had also walked three, and Baker said later he didn’t like the way Greinke was working.
So he yanked his only healthy veteran starter and turned instead to Framber Valdez, probably the Astros’ best pitcher during the regular season.
The early returns were questionable. Valdez walked the first two batters he faced, got Byron Buxton to fish at a pitch in the dirt then threw another one there that Buxton laid off of.
Then Valdez found his bearings. He fanned Buxton, retired the next two hitters and stranded those potential Twins insurance runs.
From that point on, Valdez was brilliant. He allowed just two hits, recorded four more strikeouts, and when the Astros got a major gift – more on that presently – finished off the final innings of what turned in to a 4-1 Houston victory.
The performances leaves Astros fans guessing who Baker might nominate to start Game 2 – Valdez had been the majority choice – and may have rendered him unavailable for the rest of the series. But Houston got the victory, and Valdez was the major reason.