HOUSTON (AP) — Framber Valdez pitched a no-hitter through the seventh inning and Yordan Alvarez hit two of Houston’s four home runs in a 5-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.
Valdez (4-3) didn’t allow a hit until a single in the top of the seventh, allowing just two hits and one run in seven innings while striking out four.
“I felt good with my pitches from the beginning,” Valdez said in Spanish through a translator. “They were pitching the way I wanted them to, I was able to throw strikes where I wanted them to.”
Alvarez hit a two-run homer off Joe Ryan (4-4) in the first inning and then a solo homer off the starting pitcher in the fifth inning to make it 5-0. It was Alvarez’s third multi-home run game of the season and his 18th of his career.
“I felt like I was a Jordanian, something people are used to,” Alvarez said in Spanish through a translator.
Struggling first baseman Jose Abreu hit his first home run and second extra-base hit of the season in the second inning, and Kyle Tucker added another homer in the third inning for his 19th of the season, second-most in the majors behind Aaron Judge’s 20.
In the bottom of the ninth, Houston took a 5-2 lead when Jake Myers leapt to the wall in center field to make a catch and stop a home run by Byron Buxton. After making the catch, closer Josh Hader raised his arms high and fellow center fielder Buxton tilted his helmet toward Myers.
Hader then struck out Willy Castro to earn his eighth save.
Valdez breezed through the first six innings, walking Manuel Margot in the top of the fourth and striking out Kyle Farmer in the top of the sixth, but faced minimal batters thanks to double plays in both innings.
Valdez got the first out of the third inning with help from his defense, as Tucker jumped to catch Farmer’s fly before it crashed into the right-field wall.
The Twins got their first hit in the top of the seventh when Margot singled to center field, advanced to second on a wild pitch with one out, and scored on Jose Miranda’s single with two outs to cut the lead to 5–1.
Carlos Correa’s RBI single put the Twins within 5-2 with two outs in the eighth inning.
“When you get held like that through the sixth inning, it’s tough to come back and win … (but) we continued to play hard,” Minnesota coach Rocco Baldelli said.
Tucker walked, then Alvarez hit his first home run of the game to make it 2-0.
With two outs in the bottom of the second inning, Abreu’s home run gave the Giants a 3-0 lead. The .119 batting average was in just his fourth major league game after spending nearly a month in the minor leagues working on his swing after a terrible start to the season.
“I think it’s very important to understand where I am and how far I need to get,” he said in Spanish through an interpreter. “The first three or four games haven’t gone well, but believe me, I’m confident I can get to a point where I can help this team, this organization, win games.”
Tucker’s home run to right-center field with one out in the third inning made it 4-0. Alvarez homered again with two outs in the fifth inning.
Ryan allowed eight hits, including four home runs and five runs, in five innings, his most this season.
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Right-handed pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson (2-0, 2.70 ERA), from suburban Houston, Minnesota, is scheduled to face right-handed pitcher Hunter Brown (1-5, 6.39 ERA) in the series finale on Sunday.
