Astros’ Framber Valdez Apologizes to Teammate Cesar Salazar After Hitting Catcher with Pitch in 7-1 Loss Against Yankees

The Dominican pitcher would throw a sinker once again to the next batter, Anthony Volpe . There was another breakdown in communication as Valdez’s 93 mph fastball would hit Salazar in the midriff.

Valdez soon found himself under the heat of the fans on social media. Many would accuse the pitcher of intentionally hitting his teammate after getting frustrated about the grand slam.

After the game, the 31-year-old opened up about the incident. He would claim that the hit was unintentional and apologized for it.

I called for that pitch. I threw it. And we got crossed up. When we went down to the dugout, I excused myself with him and I said sorry to him. And I take full responsibility for that.

Framber Valdez said through his translator

The southpaw would be done with the game after 5 innings and picked up the loss. With this result, he now has a 12-8 record for the year while pitching with an ERA of 3.40.

Cesar Salazar claims he pressed the wrong button after getting hit by pitch by Framber Valdez

After Trent Grisham gave the New York Yankees a 6-0 lead with a grand slam, Houston Astros catcher Cesar Salazar would get drilled in the midsection by his own pitcher, Framber Valdez. Following the 7-1 loss, the catcher claimed that he pressed the wrong button.

Salazar would remain crouched and stare at his teammate after the hit. As Valdez turned around and started taking steps back to the mound, he would take off his mask and take a few steps forward towards the mound. However, he would throw a new ball to his pitcher and did not have any discussion with him.

After the game, the 29-year-old expressed that Valdez had apologized to him and the two of them did not hold anything against each other.

The heat of the moment got to us. He apologized after. He’s great. It wasn’t anything bad about it. Just pressed the wrong button and I was expecting another pitch.

Cesar Salazar told the reporters

Salazar was starting as the catcher for just the 3rd time this season. He was recalled last week when back-up catcher Victor Caratini was placed on the 7-day injured list. In his first game back, the catcher caught a shutout as Framber Valdez threw 7 scoreless innings.

With the loss from this game, the Astros have now dropped 3 of their last 4 games. Despite this mini slump, the 2-time World Series winners are 3 games ahead of the Seattle Mariners for the top spot in the American League West Standings.