In a thrilling Friday night matchup at Comerica Park, the Houston Astros rallied from behind to defeat the Detroit Tigers 5-2, snapping a four-game losing streak.
Framber Valdez was the catalyst for Houston’s victory, pitching seven strong innings while allowing only two runs on six hits. The left-hander has now compiled a remarkable 2.49 ERA in eight career starts against the Tigers.
The Astros’ offense struggled early against Tigers starter Casey Mize, who allowed just one run on five hits through the first five innings. However, Houston’s bats came alive in the eighth inning, sparked by a leadoff single from Jose Altuve. Kyle Tucker followed with a walk, and Yordan Alvarez tied the game with a single down the right-field line.
Jason Foley replaced Andrew Chafin on the mound for Detroit, but Jeremy Peña greeted him with an RBI single on his first pitch. A force out by Jon Singleton put runners on the corners, and Alex Bregman’s grounder to third went through Matt Vierling’s legs for an error, allowing another run to score. Yanier Diaz capped off the rally with a sacrifice fly to give Houston a 5-2 lead.
Bryan Abreu pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the Astros, and Josh Hader earned his fifth save by closing out the ninth.
The Tigers, who debuted their new blue City Connect jerseys, took an early 2-0 lead in the third inning on a double by Vierling. However, Tucker’s solo homer in the sixth brought Houston within one run.
Detroit’s ace, Tarik Skubal, will take the mound on Saturday against Cristian Javier, who is expected to be activated from the injured list for the Astros.
