Houston Astros star Framber Valdez turned a pair of eerily similar double plays in a game Wednesday.
Pitching in the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants, Valdez took a 98.4 mph line drive off the bat of slugger J.D. Davis.
The ball took a fortuitous hop directly to second baseman Mauricio Dubón, who flipped a short toss to shortstop Jeremy Peña, who threw to first to complete the double play.
Framber Valdez earned this double play. pic.twitter.com/SrHdsf07c5
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) May 3, 2023
That double play ended the inning. Valdez scowled as he walked off the mound to the dugout, clearly unhappy with his inning (three hits, a walk, two earned runs) and giving up the painful line drive.
Here is where things get really, truly bizarre. That play was almost a carbon copy of a double play two innings earlier. Davis hit a sharp bouncer that clocked almost exactly the same exit velocity (98.7 mph, vs. 98.4 on the line drive) to Valdez. He got a glove on the ball, picked it up and threw to second to start the double play.
Framber Valdez was all smiles after this slick double play.
(MLB x @Woodbridge_Wine) pic.twitter.com/ltiq3lM38Q
— MLB (@MLB) May 3, 2023
Here’s one more bizarre fact about the two plays (cue eerie X-Files music): Framber threw a 96.3 mph sinker to Davis on the first double play, and a 96.2 mph sinker on the second.
Pro tip for Valdez: If you throw any more 96 mph sinkers to Davis, be prepared to duck.
The Astros star turned in a quality start, with six innings pitched, eight strikeouts and just those two earned runs, but still took the loss. That runs his season mark to 2-4, despite an impressive 2.60 ERA.
[Photo Credit: AT&T Sportsnet]
