Bats spoil Valdez gem, losing streak extends to four

After last night's extra inning game against the Oakland Athletics, the bullpen had been stretched dangerously thin. The Astros were in dire need of a quality start from starter Framber Valdez, whose last appearance had been in relief of Josh James in Anaheim. He pitched a little more than six innings in that outing.

"I already feel like a starter on this team," Valdez said after that game, which the Astros won in extra innings. "I can be a help to this team... I've prepared myself and I feel like I've done all the work to be a starter and I've been focused on that since the get-go."

Valdez sure looked like a starter in today's game against the A's, but his effort wouldn't be enough as the Astros dropped their fourth consecutive game by a score of 3-1 to Oakland.

After giving up a leadoff solo home run to Marcus Semien in the first inning, Valdez was sensational. He would face the minimum through the next four innings, allowing only a single hit across that timeframe.

Things would get a little tricky in the sixth inning, by no fault of Framber -- an infield dribbler fumbled by José Altuve allowed Marcus Semien to reach first base with no outs. Semien would later take third base after an errant throw from catcher Dustin Garneau trying to nab Semien at second base would escape into the outfield. A Matt Chapman chopper would allow Semien to score. The run was marked as unearned.

Framber finished his outing with a clutch strikeout in the seventh inning that stranded runners on second and third, keeping the game manageable. His final line was brilliant -- 7 IP on 103 pitches (most by an Astro starter this season), seven hits, one walk, one earned run allowed, and nine strikeouts.

Though Valdez shoved, the Astro hitters supported him with an abysmal two hits throughout his start, both by Yuli Gurriel. Through six innings, the Astros managed only those two hits, zero walks, five strikeouts, and went 0-2 with runners in scoring position.

The Astros wouldn't manage a run until the ninth inning, through an Alex Bregman single that scored Kyle Tucker from third.

With the loss, the Astros would fall to 6-8 on the season. They now trail the Athletics by 4.5 games in the AL West. They've lost four in a row, with two of those losses coming by way of a walk-off.

It'll be up to Christian Javier tomorrow to halt the losing skid and avoid the sweep, as he'll square off against Jesus Luzardo for the series finale in Oakland at 3 PM CT.