ASTROS DEFEAT MARLINS

Framber fans 10, Lopefido homers as Astros beat Marlins

Astros Framber Valdez, Joey Loperfido,
Astros defeat Marlins, 9-1. Composite Getty Image.

Framber Valdez struck out a season-high 10 and allowed one run in seven innings, and rookie Joey Loperfido homered and tripled to lead the Houston Astros to a 9-1 victory over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night.

Valdez (8-5) allowed just six singles and earned his third straight win.

Loperfido hit a two-run homer as the Astros jumped on Bryan Hoeing (0-2) for four runs in the second inning to take a 5-0 lead. His first career triple came in the fourth inning.


The win was the eighth straight at home for the Astros, who have won eight of their last 11 games overall to improve to 48-44.

Rookie Xavier Edwards had two hits and drove in Miami’s only run.

Hoeing, who has made 11 relief appearances this season, permitted eight hits and five runs — four earned — in three innings in his second start of the year.

Jose Altuve hit a leadoff single before Yordan Alvarez walked with one out. Both players stole a base before Altuve scored on a single to right field by Yainer Diaz to make it 1-0. Alvarez attempted to score on the play, but was tagged out at the plate.

Jon Singleton singled to start Houston’s second and scored when Jake Meyers doubled to center field on a ball that was deflected by Jazz Chisholm Jr. as he crashed off the padded wall.

Meyers moved to third on a wild pitch by Hoeing before Loperfido’s one-out shot to right field made it 4-0. Alex Bregman hit an infield single with one out and Hoeing’s throwing error on the play left him at second.

Houston extended the lead to 5-0 when Bregman scored on a single to center field by Alvarez.

Loperfido tripled when his fly ball sailed just out of reach of Chisholm with no outs in the fourth. He scored when Bregman reached on a fielder’s choice that made it 6-0.

Edwards cut the lead to 6-1 on an RBI single with one out in the fifth.

An RBI double by Trey Cabbage pushed Houston’s advantage to 7-1 with one out in the sixth. Diaz smacked a single to center field to score two more after that and make it 9-1.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: Alvarez was lifted for a pinch hitter in the fourth inning because of tightness in his right hip.

UP NEXT

Houston RHP Jake Bloss (0-0, 4.91 ERA) is scheduled to come off the injured list to make his second major league start in the series finale Thursday night. Bloss injured his shoulder in his MLB debut June 21 and threw four scoreless innings in a rehabilitation outing with Triple-A Sugar Land Saturday. RHP Roddery Muñoz (1-3, 5.48) will start for Miami.

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The Jets have interest in Texans OC Bobby Slowik. Composite Getty Image.

The New York Jets interviewed Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik for their head coach position Thursday.

The meetings with Smith and Slowik gave the Jets 12 known candidates with whom they've spoken about their vacancy.

New York has also interviewed Aaron Glenn, Vance Joseph, Mike Locksley, Matt Nagy, Ron Rivera, Darren Rizzi, Rex Ryan, Steve Spagnuolo, Jeff Ulbrich and Mike Vrabel for the job. Vrabel has since been hired by New England as its coach.

Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores and Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley are also expected to meet soon with the Jets.

The 42-year-old Smith, who was the Atlanta Falcons' head coach from 2021-23, was considered one of the Jets' top candidates in 2021 when he interviewed with the team before New York hired Robert Saleh. Smith was hired by the Falcons the next day and went 21-30, with three straight 7-10 finishes, before being fired after the 2023 season.

Mike Tomlin hired Smith last offseason to run the Steelers' offense, which improved in several categories this season with Russell Wilson at quarterback as Pittsburgh made the playoffs.

Smith spent 10 years with Tennessee, including the last two as the Titans' offensive coordinator in 2019 and 2020. He previously had a stint with Washington as its defensive quality control coach in between college stops at North Carolina (2006) and Mississippi (2010).

The 37-year-old Slowik met with the Jets in a video interview since the Texans remain in the playoffs and are preparing to face the Chiefs in Kansas City on Saturday.

He's in his second year running the Texans' offense with quarterback C.J. Stroud, who was last season's AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and has been one of the league's most dynamic young playmakers.

Slowik, whose father Bob coaches in the CFL after several years as an NFL assistant, spent six years as an assistant under Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco before joining the Texans. The Princeton, New Jersey, native started his pro coaching career as a video assistant for Washington in 2010 before being promoted to defensive assistant, a role he held for three years. Slowik then worked at Pro Football Focus as a senior analyst for three years before being hired by the 49ers.

The Jets are also conducting an extensive search for a new general manager. They have interviewed 15 candidates for that position, including Green Bay Packers executive Jon-Eric Sullivan and Miami Dolphins assistant general manager Brian Gaine on Tuesday.

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