
Framber Valdez is dealing with left elbow soreness. Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images.
Astros manager Joe Espada spoke to the media Monday about Framber Valdez being scratched from his start against the Rangers on Monday night.
Valdez is dealing with elbow soreness, and he is meeting with team doctors in Houston.
Framber Valdez felt soreness in the top of his left elbow after playing catch. He is in Houston seeing team doctors, Joe Espada said.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) April 8, 2024
Espada said it was a good sign that Valdez has not been put on IL, so hopefully it's not serious.
Blair Henley has been promoted from Triple-A Sugar Land to make tonight's start against the Rangers.
Closing out the series!
⚾️: 7:05pm
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— Houston Astros (@astros) April 8, 2024
Henley has made one start this season for Sugar Land, he has an ERA of 5.40 after surrendering 3 runs in 5 innings.
Henley pitched for the Corpus Christi Hooks in 2023, recording a 3-6 record with a 5.06 ERA. He pitched in 25 games, starting 17.
Mauricio Dubón scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the 10th inning, Jeremy Peña and Isaac Paredes opened the game with home runs, and the Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 on Friday night.
Peña led off the 10th with a single that advanced automatic runner Dubón to third. Dubón scored when Hunter Strickland, who hadn’t allowed a run in 14 2/3 innings of his first 13 appearances with the Angels, threw a pitch behind the back of Paredes.
Houston closer Josh Hader (5-1) retired the side in order in the ninth and Bennett Sousa retired three straight batters in the 10th for his second save.
Angels starter Yusei Kikuchi gave up home runs to Pena and Paredes for a 2-0 Astros lead in the held the Astros to four hits, striking out nine and walking none, for the rest of his seven-inning start.
Jo Adell trimmed Houston’s lead to 2-1 in the fourth with a 426-foot homer off Astros starter Hunter Brown. Angels rookie Christian Moore, a first-round pick out of Tennessee in 2024, tied it 2-2 with his first major league homer to open the seventh.
Tempers flared in the third when Brown hit Angels shortstop Zach Neto in the elbow with a 95-mph sinker. Both benches and bullpens emptied, but no punches were thrown, and order was quickly restored.
Key Moment
Astros center fielder Jake Meyers raced to the gap in left-center to make a spectacular, full-extension diving catch of Adell’s drive with a runner on first base and one out in the bottom of the eighth to preserve a 2-2 tie.
Key Stat
The home runs by Peña and Paredes marked the first time in three years the Astros have opened a game with two homers. Jose Altuve and Peña last accomplished the feat on July 24, 2022 at Seattle.
Up Next
Astros LHP Brandon Walter (0-0, 1.53 ERA) opposes Angels RHP José Soriano (4-5, 3.54) on Saturday night.