The Astros fell to the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night, 4-2.
It was not a typical quality start for Framber Valdez, who gave up four earned runs in six innings. Valdez also threw wild pitches, one of which helped score a Cardinals run. He gave up eight hits, including a home run, walked three batters and struck out six.
The Astros jumped out to a 2-0 lead midway through the third inning, first with Kyler Tucker grounding into a force out to score Mauricio Dubon, then a solo home run in the third by Martin Maldonado.
But a Paul DeJong homer in the bottom half of the third cut the Astros' lead in half. A sacrifice fly in the fourth by DeJong tied the game. Then the Cardinals took the lead in the fifth with an RBI double by Nolan Arenado, who scored on a wild pitch by Valdez.
Cristian Javier (7-1, 3.25 ERA) is scheduled to make his first career start against the Cardinals on Wednesday, as Valdez had the previous night. In his last start against the Mets, Javier gave up a career-high five walks while allowing four runs through 2 1/3 innings.
