Houston starter Framber Valdez said he apologized to his catcher César Salazar after hitting him in the chest with a pitch on Tuesday night, but he insisted that he didn’t hit his teammate on purpose.
Salazar appeared to ask Valdez to step off the mound when the bases were loaded in the fifth inning of the Astros’ loss to the New York Yankees. But Valdez declined to do so, and then gave up a grand slam to Trent Grisham in a game Houston lost 7-1. Two pitches later, Valdez hit Salazar in the chest. Salazar appeared surprised by the pitch and started hard at Valdez, who quickly turned his back on his teammate. That led to speculation the Valdez was upset with his catcher about Grisham’s at bat.
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“What happened with us, we just got crossed up,” Valdez said. “I called for that pitch, I threw it and we got crossed up. We went down to the dugout and I excused myself with him and I said sorry to him and I take full responsibility for that.”
Valdez was then asked directly if he hit Salazar on purpose. “No,” he said. “It was not intentional.”
Valdez and Salazar were talking when reporters entered the clubhouse after the game and Valdez said they had resolved the issues between themselves.
“We were able to talk through it,” he said. “We spoke after the game … at his locker and everything’s good between us. It’s just stuff that happens in baseball. But yeah, we talked through it and we’re good.”
Salazar was asked about what happened on the pitch where he was hit. “The stadium was loud,” he said. “I thought I pressed the button, but I pressed the wrong button. I was expecting another pitch, but it wasn’t it.”
Salazar said Valdez didn’t hit him on purpose. “No, me and Framber we actually have a really good relationship,” he said.
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