Valdez and Diaz's unstoppable battery leads Astros to 6th straight win

ST. PETERSBURG -- In some ways, the relationship between Astros veteran starter Framber Valdez and first-year starting catcher Yainer Diaz has come a long way in the past three months. In other ways, it hasn’t changed one bit.

Valdez and Diaz both contend they’ve communicated well through the entire season, dating back to Spring Training when they were getting to know each other. Valdez worked exclusively with veteran Martín Maldonado last year, with Diaz taking over as the starting catcher this season. And there were some big bumps in the road.

Valdez admittedly strayed from Diaz’s game plan in a May 20 loss to the Angels, during which Los Angeles scored nine runs (seven in the fifth inning), which forced manager Joe Espada to pair Valdez with another catcher for his next seven starts. Since Diaz returned behind the plate with Valdez on the mound, it’s been an unbeatable pair.

Valdez struck out nine batters in 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball to pick up his fourth consecutive victory, and Alex Bregman and Diaz launched homers to lead the Astros to their sixth win in a row, 6-1, over the Rays on Monday night at Tropicana Field.

“The more they've worked together, the more in-tune they are, the more they understand each other,” Espada said. “They know how to navigate lineups, they know how to make adjustments. It’s been great to watch.”

Valdez (12-5), who came within one out of throwing a no-hitter in his previous outing Wednesday at Texas, improved to 7-0 with a 2.68 ERA in nine starts since June 23, all of which Houston has won. Diaz has been behind the plate for the last seven of those starts.

“I think the communication has been really good,” Valdez said. “That’s outside the game, on the field, off the field, he’s a guy that works really hard and he studies and does his reports just like I do. I think we can get on the same page really easily.”

The Astros (63-55) improved to eight games over .500 for the first time this year and are 56-36 since April 27, which is the best record in the Major Leagues in that span. With the Mariners having an off-day Monday, Houston moved a half-game ahead of Seattle and into first place in the American League West.

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“They’re trained to run marathons, and they’re really good at it,” Espada said. “They all lean on each other, they all believe in one another and we all know how to turn the page together and pick each other. Credit to a group of players that just know how to win.”

Valdez relied on three pitches Monday, throwing 38 curveballs, 38 sinkers and 25 changeups among his 101 pitches (60 strikes). Unlike last week against Texas, he worked deeper counts which drove his pitch count up, but he and Diaz were able to escape major damage.

“Even though I didn’t catch him much last year, we always have a really good working relationship and communicated really well,” said Diaz, who hit a three-run homer in Houston’s four-run third inning.

One part of Valdez’s game plan he’s executing well is his curveball, a pitch Angels superstar Mike Trout called one of the best in the league before Valdez became a star. Valdez’s curveball usage Monday (37.6 percent) was in line with a recent upward trend. He had thrown curveballs 26.7 percent of the time through June 29 but has thrown the pitch 38 percent of the time since then.

“It’s gotten better with time,” Espada said. “We’re asking him to use it more, and he’s been working hard to try to get the location of it and land it whenever he wants to -- behind the count, ahead in the count. It’s been a game-changer for him.”

Several Rays hitters were getting their first look at Valdez, who was making his second regular-season start against the Rays and his first since 2022.

“Really good pitcher,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Talented in the fact that he can evolve throughout the course of the game. … Breaking ball creates a ton of depth. Kind of spotted the fastball just enough to keep us honest. And then had both the off-speed pitches where [they] kept us off balance.”