Jack Leiter's no-hit bid in duel with Framber Valdez ends in letdown as Rangers fall to Astros
Houston Astros' Zach Dezenzo, left, and teammate Yainer Diaz, right, celebrate after Diaz hit a home run off Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter comes off the field after pitching against the Houston Astros during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter throws during the first inning against the Houston Astros in a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter throws during the first inning against the Houston Astros in a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, right, takes the ball from starting pitcher Jack Leiter (35) during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
Houston Astros' Zach Dezenzo, left, and teammate Yainer Diaz, right, celebrate after Diaz hit a home run off Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter comes off the field after pitching against the Houston Astros during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter throws during the first inning against the Houston Astros in a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jack Leiter still had a no-hit bid going in the seventh inning after the Texas rookie right-hander and Houston lefty Framber Valdez matched zeros through each of their first nine outs.
The son of retired major league pitcher Al Leiter first noticed the day could be special when neither team had a hit through three innings of an eventual 4-3 victory for the Astros on Sunday.
Advertisement
Leiter wasn't with the big league club the previous time Valdez was on the mound at the home of the Rangers last August, when the two-time All-Star lost a no-hit bid with two outs in the ninth inning on Corey Seager's two-run homer.
Valdez got the win back then in a 4-2 Houston victory and again this time thanks to Isaac Paredes' go-ahead, three-run homer in the eighth off Robert Garcia as the Texas rivals split a four-game series.
'I think every game is its own learning experience,' Leiter said after pitching into the eighth inning for the first time in 13 career big league starts over two seasons. 'That's all I'm trying to do is soak it in as much as possible and learn as much as I can.
'Obviously there's a lot of positive takeaways to build off of this one,' Leiter said. 'Very unfortunate we don't get the win on a getaway day, win the series, all that. We've got a lot of things going good for us there.'
Advertisement
Leiter lost his no-hit bid on Yainer Diaz's solo homer with two outs in the seventh, which pulled Houston to 3-1. The 25-year-old who was taken second overall in the 2021 amateur draft struck out Zach Dezenzo to finish the seventh, but gave up soft singles to Jake Meyers and Cam Smith leading off the eighth.
Chris Martin replaced Leiter but exited with right shoulder discomfort after one pitch. Garcia, a lefty, got two outs before Paredes' seventh homer.
'Balls found holes that inning,' Leiter said. 'All day they weren't finding holes. Start the eighth, still make good pitches, and two of them find holes. You leave the game with two runners on and no outs, you've got to hold yourself accountable to those. That's a really tough ask out of the bullpen.'
Valdez was perfect in five of his first six innings, the exception being a three-run fourth that started with three consecutive singles. The 31-year-old escaped trouble in the seventh, setting the stage for the rally.
Advertisement
Nine months ago, Valdez's only wobble came with two outs in the ninth, when he allowed a walk ahead of Seager's shot. He said that outing wasn't on his mind as he cruised through three more innings this time.
'I'm not focused on what happened last time I was here,' Valdez said. 'I'm focusing on what's happening now. I felt like I had seven very good innings.'
Houston manager Joe Espada only saw the first two-plus innings of Leiter's effort live. He was ejected for arguing balls and strikes in the third.
'He's got great stuff,' Espada said. 'Explosive fastball, sliders. He works on the edges. He was efficient. I never give up on our guys. We're going to give you a run for your money.'
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Cal names freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele as starting QB in surprise move
Devin Brown won't be the starting quarterback at Cal after all. The Golden Bears have named freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele their starting quarterback to start the season. Sagapolutele will now lead the way when Cal opens the season at Oregon State on Aug. 30. Sagapolutele won the starting job over Brown, who transferred into Cal after spending the last two seasons as the backup quarterback at Ohio State. He appeared in nine games last season but only completed a handful of passes while playing behind Will Howard during the Buckeyes' national title run. Many expected Brown to get the starting job at Cal, and Brown even reportedly received an NIL package in the 'upper six-figure range' to join the Bears, according to CBS Sports. He's now expected to be Sagapolutele's backup to start the season. Sagapolutele initially committed to Cal last summer, but he briefly flipped to Oregon. He enrolled at the school early and spent a short amount of time practicing there, but he hit the transfer portal almost immediately and committed to Cal. Sagapolutele was a four-star recruit coming out of high school in Hawaii, and he was the No. 6 ranked quarterback in the 2025 class. Cal went just 6-7 last season, the program's first in the ACC and its eighth under head coach Justin Wilcox. The team has had just two winning seasons under Wilcox's tenure, most recently in 2019. While the Bears aren't favored to win the ACC by any means, they do have a favorable schedule this season. The Bears only have one opponent that was ranked in the AP preseason poll on their slate, and it's their final game of the season. Though he bounced around a bit before his college career even began, Sagapolutele is now less than two weeks away from officially making his starting debut.
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fantasy Football Video: Overlooking a healthy Isiah Pacheco could prove costly this draft season
The expectations for the Kansas City Chiefs for most of Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid's tenure has been Super Bowl or bust. The Chiefs enter this season trying to get back to the Super Bowl after falling to the Philadelphia Eagles last season. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] One element from the Chiefs' offense that was missing in 2024 was the presence of a solidified run game. For most of the previous two seasons, the backfield had been anchored by Isiah Pacheco. That wasn't the case last year, in large part due injury, but can fantasy football managers count on Pacheco bouncing back this season? Matt Harmon and Justin Boone looked at Pacheco's rising ADP on the latest episode of the Yahoo Fantasy Forecast. Boone points out that Pacheco is healthy and that his competition in the backfield is pretty meager. Behind Pacheco are veterans Kareem Hunt and Elijah Mitchell, as well as rookie Brashard Smith. While Hunt and Mitchell could challenge for touches, and Smith has some pass-catching chops, it's really Pacheco's RB1 role to lose. In 2024, Pacheco missed most of the season due to a fractured fibula sustained early in the season. He was able to return in Week 13 after missing nine games but didn't look like the same player. He would end up finishing the season with 3.7 yards per carry and was barely a factor in Kansas City's run to the Super Bowl. Boone will gladly take Pacheco as his RB2 in drafts this season and Harmon later chimes in that this is the Chiefs, they're going to be a top-5 projected offense in terms of points, and having the RB1 on said offense wouldn't be a bad thing. Pacheco's current ADP has him as the RB24, right at the edge of the RB2 conversation in 12-team leagues.
Yahoo
4 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Cubs starting pitcher Cade Horton exits with blister in 3rd inning against Brewers
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Cade Horton exited with a finger blister in the third inning against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday. Horton surrendered a solo home run to Brice Turang in the third and then allowed three of the next four Brewers batters to reach base. Reliever Drew Pomeranz replaced Horton with two outs and the bases loaded. He retired Blake Perkins to limit Milwaukee's advantage to just 1-0. The team said the blister was on Horton's right middle finger. In 2 2/3 innings, Horton gave up four hits, one walk and a hit-by-pitch. The right-hander finished with three strikeouts. Chicago started Horton in the first game of a Monday doubleheader. The first pitch of the nightcap is slated for 7:05 p.m. CT. Horton, 24, entered the day with a 7-3 record and an ERA of 3.07. ___ AP MLB:
