1) Valdez digs early hole

Framber Valdez would not be able to provide Houston with a better start than his last outing, and in fact would struggle even more heavily against the Pirates than he did the Yankees last weekend. Valdez struggled with his command, getting into bad counts that Pittsburgh would take advantage of, scoring six runs over the first three innings.

Valdez would finish the third, but with his shaky command and already having the Astros behind 6-1, was lifted in the forth to set up six innings for the bullpen. Valdez’s final line: 3 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR.

Chris Devenski was able to get through two perfect innings in the forth and fifth, but would allow a two-run home run in the top of the sixth to extend the Pirates’ lead to 8-1. Hector Rondon and Collin McHugh would get through the seventh and eighth innings before Tyler White was thrown into action in the ninth to close things out. He’d allow six runs and only get two outs before Max Stassi would be brought in for the last out.

2) Springer’s leadoff dinger highlights offense

Already facing a 2-0 deficit before getting to the plate, George Springer did his part to try and shift the momentum back Houston’s way by launching a leadoff solo home run in the bottom of the first to cut the lead in half.

That would be the only notable offense for Houston until the eight when they'd get an RBI-groundout from Yordan Alvarez to make it an 8-2 game, but that would be as close as they’d get to a rally.