HOUSTON — If there were any players on the Astros who needed some assurances of their immense talent on the baseball field entering Wednesday, it was left-hander Framber Valdez, rookie outfielder Cam Smith and slugger Yordan Alvarez.
Valdez, one of baseball’s top starting pitchers for most of the season, had been mired in a monthlong slump and hadn’t won a game in more than a month. Smith, the 22-year-old who appeared in only 32 Minor League games before making Houston’s Opening Day roster, had a .500 OPS in 42 games played since July 1 with no homers.
Then there’s Alvarez, the feared slugger who returned to the lineup Tuesday after missing 3 1/2 months with a fractured bone in his hand and inflammation. He had missed 100 games, leaving a huge void in the middle of the Astros’ lineup.
All three played a huge part in the Astros’ 4-0 win over the Rockies at Daikin Park, with Valdez collecting his first win since July 22 by throwing seven scoreless innings. Smith and Alvarez both swatted home runs for the first time in months.
“In this game of baseball, there are a lot of highs and lows, but going out there and having the full confidence that I need, it’s the key part,” Valdez said.
The Astros, who remain 1 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Mariners in the American League West, were managed Wednesday by bench coach Omar López because manager Joe Espada was ill. López said Espada texted him 30 minutes before the game and told him to guide the boys.
“Thank God he’s fine and he’s back home and he’ll be here tomorrow,” López said.
Espada missed a dominant Valdez, who found the feel for his curveball and mixed it perfectly with a sinker like he does so well when he’s on. After going 10-0 with a 1.86 ERA during a dominating stretch of 13 starts from May 7-July 22 (the Astros were 13-0 in those starts), Valdez was 0-3 with a 6.14 ERA in his previous five starts entering Wednesday (the Astros had lost all five).
Valdez held the Rockies to three singles and two walks while striking out five batters. He didn’t allow a runner to reach third base until there were two outs in the seventh. Bryan King and Bryan Abreu worked the final two innings to finish off Houston’s 10th shutout of the season.
“It felt good to go out there with the team and throw the seven shutout innings,” Valdez said. “It was good to get that win for the team.”
Valdez got 10 of his 17 whiffs on his trademark curveball against Colorado’s all-right-handed lineup and delivered his team-high 18th quality start of the season.
“That’s one of the best pitchers in the game, especially left-handed,” Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. “Curveball, sinker was really good. Curveball, he kept down, mixed well. Sinker both sides of the plate and stuck it in there when he needed to right-handed hitters. He kept us on the ground. He was just good. He was really good. We had no answer for him tonight.”
Rockies starter Chase Dollander continued to pitch well on the road, holding the Astros to one run, three hits and four walks in six innings. Jesús Sánchez had an RBI single in the first off Dollander, and rookie Smith cranked a leadoff homer to left off reliever Nick Anderson in the seventh. It was his first home run since June 28.
A smiling Smith, with the weight of the world off his shoulders, said he’s figured out the game is more mental than anything.
“[It’s] understanding I belong here and I have the ability to do what everybody does,” he said. “Like I said, I’ve just got to get out of my own way. When you go through stuff like that, self-doubt starts to come in, but you’ve got to power through that.”
The Rockies immediately showed Alvarez respect upon his return to the lineup Tuesday. He walked four times in his first seven plate appearances — including walking and scoring in the first inning Wednesday — before finally getting a pitch to drive in the eighth inning. And he drove it a Statcast-projected 421 feet over the center field wall for a two-run homer.
“I felt really good when I hit it and I needed to feel that hit, more for the confidence, especially with all the time that I’ve been out,” Alvarez said.
