Valdez got Freeman, the lone lefty, to fly out in the first inning but allowed the other four to reach, loading the bases with two outs. The first five batters in the Braves order included four righthanded hitters. His 13th pitch conjured an Astros nightmare. On Sunday, Valdez threw his first pitch at 8:25 p.m. and three times failed to get out of the third inning, a damning indictment of Houston’s persistent rotation struggles. In five postseason starts, Valdez (1-1) posted a 7.78 ERA over 19 2/3innings pitched with 28 hits, 18 runs, six home runs, eight walks and 16 strikeouts. The Braves thrived on hard contact average exit velocity of balls struck against Valdez was 94.8 mph. Valdez threw 29 of his 47 pitches for strikes and for the most part stayed ahead in counts, but struck out just one of the 14 batters he faced and walked two while allowing five hits. The Braves swung 10 times on Valdez’s sinker and eight times put the ball in play, including both home runs. On Sunday, his curveball produced just one whiff and his sinker zero. He predicates his arsenal on a zippy sinker and deceptive curveball that combine for a deadly one-two punch. Valdez flourishes by dealing down in the strike zone to produce ground balls. Alex Bregman could not glove it cleanly and the ball hopped into the outfield for a base hit.

On Valdez’s third pitch of the game, Soler grounded a 1-1 sinker 110 mph off the bat toward third base. In the World Series, the lefthander surrendered four home runs over 4 2/3innings.Ītlanta loaded its lineup with right-handed hitters and gave the leadoff spot to Jorge Soler, who crushed a leadoff homer against Valdez in Game 1. Valdez allowed only 12 home runs in 134 2/3innings in the regular season. No amount of meditative exercises could suffice.

Freddie Freeman piled on a solo shot the following inning.

Adam Duvall shattered it with a single swing, making Valdez the fourth Astros pitcher to give up a grand slam this postseason.

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