SerpApi.Org
CHICAGO — Framber Valdez said he hardly recognized the pitcher who unraveled Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.
The usually aggressive left-hander recorded only two outs, allowed the first seven batters to reach base and left the Detroit Tigers facing a five-run deficit in an eventual 11-2 loss to the Cubs.
“For me, personally, it was one of my worst outings,” Valdez said in Spanish. “There are bad days and good days, and it was my turn to have a bad day, a terrible one.
“I accept it. I didn’t want us to lose. I didn’t want it to turn out that way. I wanted it to be the best game, as every player wants. But today was a terrible day.”
Valdez faced 10 batters and threw 42 pitches. Pete Crow-Armstrong opened the inning with a triple, and the Cubs followed with a walk, a hit batter and four consecutive singles.
One of those hits was a wind-aided popup that dropped into shallow right field, but Valdez did not blame the conditions or the defense.
“I think it was the first time in my life that I threw that many pitches in two-thirds of an inning,” Valdez said. “It was a strange outing on my part.”
Manager A.J. Hinch said several factors contributed to the unraveling.
“A little bit of everything,” Hinch said. “There were a couple walks in there. There was the wind ball. They found some holes. They drove his pitch count up to 40-plus, and it just turned into a really long, ugly inning.”
Valdez finally retired two batters before walking Crow-Armstrong with the bases loaded to force in another run. Hinch then went to the bullpen.
The outing matched the shortest of Valdez’s career. He also lasted two-thirds of an inning for the Houston Astros against the Texas Rangers on July 11, 2019. Hinch was Houston’s manager at the time.
Valdez was pitching on 11 days’ rest after spending the All-Star break on bereavement leave in the Dominican Republic following the death of his grandmother. His previous start, on July 9, was one of his best of the season. He allowed one run in seven innings and struck out nine in a victory over the Athletics.
In a perfect world, the Tigers could have asked Valdez to “wear it” for a few more innings on Tuesday to spare an already taxed bullpen. But after Valdez crossed the 40-pitch threshold in a single inning, Hinch said there was little choice.
“Once you get into 40, that’s getting into dangerous territory,” Hinch said. “I wasn’t really even comfortable starting him for the second PCA at-bat, but we thought if we could get an early-count ground ball or something and get him out of the inning, maybe we could stretch him to three or four innings.
“We knew where our bullpen was, but his health is a bigger priority than a pitching decision.”
Valdez said he worked below the strike zone while trying to limit the damage. When he adjusted and came back over the plate, the Cubs continued finding hits.
“I feel like I fell behind in some counts while trying to minimize the damage, trying to calm the moment down,” Valdez said. “But it didn’t turn out the way I wanted, and the result simply wasn’t positive.
“Today was a day when I asked myself, ‘What happened in that inning?’ I know that’s not me.”
©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit mlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
