Framber Valdez strikes out 11 as Astros beat Pirates following long rain delay

After the start of the game was delayed three hours, 22 minutes by rain, Framber Valdez made short work of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Houston left-hander struck out the side in the first inning on his way to recording a season-best 11 strikeouts in an 8-2 win Thursday night before a crowd of 13,775 at PNC Park to clinch the three-game series.

Valdez (6-4) allowed two runs on five hits and three walks in seven innings, throwing 66 of his 99 pitches for strikes while mixing a curveball that drew 18 whiffs with a sinker that topped out at 97.6 mph and a changeup to keep Pirates hitters guessing all night.

“Insanely high spin. It seemed like it started in the other batter’s box, and he put it where he wanted to tonight,” said Pirates first baseman Jared Triolo, who went 2 for 2 with a double and two runs. “Really good curveball.”

The Astros put away the Pirates (23-40), who finished with a season-high 16 strikeouts, more than triple their number of hits (five). Their top four hitters combined for a dozen strikeouts, as Andrew McCutchen had four, Bryan Reynolds and Nick Gonzales three each and Oneil Cruz two.

“He’s a great pitcher,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “Anytime you face him, you know you’re going to be up for a battle.”

Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller (1-8) gave up six runs on four hits and two walks with nine strikeouts in six innings. Isaac Paredes homered twice for Houston (34-28), hitting a solo shot in the four-run fourth inning and a two-run blast in the ninth.

The Pirates took a 1-0 lead when Jared Triolo opened the bottom of the third with a double off the base of the corner wall in left field, advanced to third on Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s groundout to short and scored on a chopper up the middle by Cruz.

“When he’s running up there 97 with the sinker and then throwing that curveball, it makes it really hard to hit,” Kelly said. “To be able to scratch and claw against him, get a couple on the board. We just weren’t able to hold them close there.”

Keller threw 23 of his 25 pitches for strikes through three innings but needed 28 pitches to navigate the fourth, when the Astros started hitting his sweeper. Paredes tied the game by drilling a 1-1 sweeper 407 feet to left field for his 13th home run to lead off. The Astros took the lead when Cam Smith singled to center to score Christian Walker from second base to make it 2-1 and Jacob Melton hit a two-run single to left to drive in Jake Meyers and Smith for a 4-1 edge.

“I think we got them out in the first three innings with it, and then the fourth there, yeah, they were just kind of sitting on it,” Keller said. “We didn’t make the adjustment soon enough.”

The Pirates got a spectacular play in the fifth from Gold Glove third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, who backhanded a sharp grounder by Paredes while drifting into foul territory and threw across the diamond to a stretching first baseman Jared Triolo for the out.

“Anytime he’s out there on defense, he’s going to wow you,” Kelly said. “He continues to make plays like that, that you don’t even think are possible, running that hard to the line and to be able to get that much on it to throw across your body. He’s unbelievable over there.”

Triolo hit a two-out single to left in the bottom of the fifth, Kiner-Falefa followed with a single to right and Cruz hit a sharp grounder to right to score Triolo to make it 4-2. But Valdez got McCutchen to swing at a 2-2 curveball outside to prevent more damage. McCutchen is 5 for 40 (.125) with runners in scoring position this season.

Melton singled to left to start the seventh, then scored on Pena’s double to the right-center gap to give the Astros a 5-2 lead. The Pirates relieved Keller with Kyle Nicolas, only for Pena to steal third base and score on a sacrifice fly to right by Altuve to make it 6-2.

The Pirates put a pair of runners in scoring position with two outs in the seventh, only to come up empty. Triolo drew a walk, then reached third when Kiner-Falefa hit a grounder to the right side that saw Dubon make a sliding stop deep in the hole. Walker missed Dubon’s throw at first, allowing the runners to advance to second and third. But Cruz struck out on a foul tip to end the inning.

In the ninth, Pena (3 for 5) hit a two-out single to third and Paredes followed by blasting Ryan Borucki’s 0-1 sinker for a line drive 383 feet to left for a two-run homer and an 8-2 lead. Hayes singled and Pham walked in the ninth but Kaleb Ort struck out Henry Davis and pinch-hitter Spencer Horwitz before getting Kiner-Falefa to ground out to end the game.

“We found ways to get guys on base, found ways to scratch and claw, put some runs across the board,” Kelly said. “Even late, finding opportunities to get guys on base. We had scoring position in a number of innings. The guys continue to fight and battle there.”