It was expected that the Astros would struggle, at least to some extent, against the Mariners’ pitching staff. Before this three-game series, Houston averaged only 2.57 runs per game in their previous seven meetings against Seattle. Even with missing Logan Gilbert, they still had to contend with Luis Castillo, George Kirby, and Bryan Woo. But if the lineup couldn’t break through for more than a few runs per game, then Hunter Brown, Framber Valdez, and Ronel Blanco needed to counter. Through the first two games of this series, so far, so good.
Valdez didn’t necessarily have his best stuff on Saturday.