HOUSTON – Detroit Tigers left-hander Framber Valdez experienced a homecoming to remember as he returned to Houston for the first time since leaving the Astros in the offseason.
He provided six innings of one-run ball.
But the Tigers failed to follow Valdez’s guidance in a 4-2 loss to the Astros on Tuesday, June 16, in the second of three games in the series at Daikin Park, with the Astros scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The biggest moment of the game occurred with one out in the eighth inning, when a fielding error by third baseman Kevin McGonigle turned what should’ve been a double play into runners on first and second.
In response, the Tigers called right-handed reliever (and Texas native) Will Vest out of the bullpen, only for Vest to walk pinch-hitter Joey Loperfido on six pitches to load the bases.
Raynel Delgado cashed in.
He attacked Vest’s first-pitch slider – hung over the heart of the plate – up the middle and into center field for a two-run single, making it a 3-2 lead for the Astros.
The Astros extended their lead to 4-2 when Jeremy Peña grounded into a force out. The runner from third base only scored because the Tigers failed to turn a double play, with replay review reversing the original out call on the field.
The Tigers (30-43) trail the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians by 8½ games in the American League Central. They’re also seven games back in the AL wild-card race.
On the mound
There were more positives than negatives for Valdez.
The 32-year-old allowed one unearned run on six hits and three walks with six strikeouts across six innings, throwing 92 pitches. His best moment came in the third inning, and his worst moment came in the fifth inning.
He entered Tuesday’s game with a 4.40 ERA in 14 starts.
It’s now a 4.09 ERA after his 15th start.
In the third, Valdez put himself into trouble with runners on the corners, no outs after Peña’s double and Yordan Alvarez’s single, but he bounced back with three outs in a row: Christian Walker struck out swinging, Isaac Parades struck out swinging, and Jose Altuve grounded out.
Walker chased a curveball, and Paredes whiffed at a sinker.
Valdez’s curveball generated four whiffs on 10 swings for a 40% whiff rate, an improvement from his 31.1% whiff rate on the curve entering Tuesday’s game.
In the fifth, Valdez didn’t cover first base on a ground ball to first baseman Spencer Torkelson, resulting in an infield single for Delgado. Back-to-back groundouts allowed Delgado to advance to third base. A two-out walk to Walker extended the inning, then a changeup below the strike zone to Paredes eluded the glove of catcher Dillon Dingler for a passed ball.
Delgado scampered home on the rare passed ball to tie the game, 1-1.
At the plate
Right-hander Hunter Brown started for the Astros.
The 27-year-old from St. Clair Shores – a 2019 draft pick out of Wayne State University who finished third in 2025 American League Cy Young voting – took the mound for his first start since March 31. He had been sidelined for the past two and a half months with a right shoulder strain.
Facing the Tigers, Brown allowed one run on three hits and three walks with seven strikeouts across 5⅔ innings in a 92-pitch performance. He struggled early on, then settled in.
Luckily, the Tigers took advantage of Brown at his worst.
Torkelson opened the second inning with a walk on seven pitches, then advanced to third base on back-to-back groundouts from Wenceel Pérez and Zach McKinstry.
Hao-Yu Lee delivered.
He hit a first-pitch curveball for an RBI single into left field. The ball deflected off Peña at shortstop and rolled slowly to Alvarez in left field, giving the Astros no chance of throwing out Torkelson.
It put the Tigers ahead, 1-0.
After that, Brown retired 11 of his final 13 batters. The only blemishes were a leadoff walk to Pérez in the fifth inning and a two-out walk to Kerry Carpenter in the sixth inning.
The Astros replaced Brown with left-handed reliever Steven Okert after Carpenter’s walk in the sixth, which led to a popout from Greene to end the inning.
The Tigers took a 2-1 lead in the eighth inning.
It all started with a leadoff double from Hao-Yu Lee against left-handed reliever Bryan King.
From there, Lee advanced to third base on Matt Vierling’s groundout, watched McGonigle draw a four-pitch walk and scored on Dingler’s sacrifice fly.
Next up: The finale
The Tigers and Astros conclude the three-game series Wednesday (2:10 p.m., Detroit SportsNet) − the third of seven games between the two teams in a 14-game stretch.
The pitching matchup for Wednesday’s game: Right-hander Casey Mize for the Tigers and right-hander Peter Lambert for the Astros.
It will be Mize’s first start since May 27.
The 29-year-old is returning from the 15-day injured list after recovering from a right adductor strain, which has sidelined him twice in the span of nearly two months.
When healthy, Mize owns a 2.27 ERA with 12 walks and 49 strikeouts across 47⅔ innings in nine starts. His 26.5% strikeout rate is the best mark of his six-year MLB career.
One week later, the Astros will travel to Comerica Park for a four-game series against the Tigers, beginning June 25.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Framber Valdez has homecoming to remember, but Tigers lose to Astros
Reporting by Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
