Astros' Valdez loses no-hitter with 2 outs in 9th

Houston Astros left-hander Framber Valdez was one out away from throwing his second career no-hitter on Tuesday.

Corey Seager belted a two-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning to stop the southpaw from accomplishing the feat for a second time.

Valdez was replaced by Astros closer Josh Hader after allowing Seager's round-tripper.

Hader recorded the final out of the contest to give the Astros a 4-2 win.

"I'm happy. Not everybody gets to get a no-hitter all the way to the ninth inning," Valdez said after the game, according to The Athletic's Chandler Rome.

"For me, the most important thing is the team won, I won and I battled. I'm just happy.”

Astros manager Joe Espada sensed Valdez had no-hit stuff early into his performance.

"Forty pitches through four, getting ground balls, getting chases on breaking balls, you could tell he was locked in," Espada said postgame, according to MLB.com's Brian McTaggart.

Valdez threw a no-hitter against the Cleveland Guardians on Aug. 1, 2023.

He would have joined Astros teammate Ronel Blanco, as well as San Diego Padres right-hander Dylan Cease and San Francisco Giants left-hander Blake Snell, as other pitchers to throw no-hitters this season.

Seager also broke up Matt Moore's no-hit bid with two outs in the ninth on Aug. 25, 2016. He is the only player on record to do this, according to MLB.com's Sarah Langs.