On Tuesday night, the Texas Rangers ran into a buzzsaw on the mound in Houston Astros starter Framber Valdez. Valdez was simply dominant, quieting the crowd in Globe Life Field as he tallied 26 outs without allowing a single base hit. Valdez was on the cusp of being just the fourth pitcher this season to pitch a no-hitter, joining his teammate Ronel Blanco in that exclusive club. Corey Seager, however, had other plans, as he derailed Valdez's no-hit bid with two outs in the ninth by smacking a home run to score Josh Smith.
Seager appears to have that spoiler gene in him; he became just the first player in MLB history to break up a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth twice in his career. But for the Rangers shortstop, getting a hit off isn't just to prevent the opposing pitcher from making history — it's for his own batting line's sake too.
“You're aware of it all game that you haven't got a hit yet. Everybody's going up there to try to do it. Just fortunate enough it happened,” Seager said, per ESPN.
Corey Seager was able to cut the Astros' lead in half thanks to his two-run home run, making Joe Espada sweat in the process. Espada ended up pulling Valdez, keeping him out of throwing a complete game after seeing the 107th pitch he threw on the night leave the yard.
Josh Hader came in to seal the game by inducing a fly out from Josh Jung, so there was no harm done to the Astros in the end. Be that as it may, Framber Valdez would certainly want to get a do-over.
Rangers continue to scuffle and fall off the pace in the AL West
The Rangers haven't had a smooth World Series defense whatsoever. A slew of injury problems have made it difficult for the Rangers to recapture the heights they reached last season, and following Framber Valdez's near no-hitter, they have now fallen to 54-60 on the season — five games back of the Astros for the division lead.
It's not as if the Rangers would find getting into the playoffs via the wild card any easier. They are 8.5 games back of the third Wild Card spot, and they need to pass four teams — a herculean task.
The Rangers did not pull off a blockbuster trade or two to improve their lineup; they believed that by getting their everyday players back from injury, their performance will improve immensely. But is it too late for them to turn things around?
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