Framber Valdez, Alex Bregman Praised by MLB Twitter in Astros' Game 2 Win vs. Yankees

The New York Yankees struggled to do much against Houston Astros starter Framber Valdez on Thursday night. And that set up Alex Bregman to be the hero, an October theme in recent years.

The star third baseman's three-run homer in the bottom of the third inning was ultimately the difference in this game, giving the Astros a 3-2 win and a 2-0 advantage in the American League Championship Series.

Valdez had it handled from there, throwing seven innings of four-hit ball while striking out nine. He didn't give up an earned run, with both runs coming in the top of the fourth after both a fielding error and throwing error from the pitcher, on the same play, left two men on base. Both scored in ensuing at-bats.

So it was no surprise that Bregman and Valdez were feeling the love on Twitter after the big win:

Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly handled the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, without too much drama—although Aaron Judge did smash one to the warning track in right field in the eighth, a very deep and scary out for Houston—and the Astros have the Yankees on the ropes as the series heads back to New York.

The Astros have a funny habit of being in the mix every October, and Bregman has a knack for being at the center of the heroics, so his homer was par for the course. But Valdez perplexing a scary Yankees lineup was huge.

Perhaps that shouldn't come as a major surprise, either. After all, Valdez was 17-6 this season with a 2.82 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 194 strikeouts, easily his best season in the big leagues.

It's one thing to do it in the regular season. It's another to bring the goods in October. The moment wasn't too big for Valdez.