HOUSTON — Framber Valdez set an MLB single-season record with his 25th straight quality start, and Yordan Alvarez and Martin Maldonado had four RBIs each to help the Houston Astros build an early lead in an 11-2 rout of the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.
Alvarez drove in three runs with a double in Houston’s five-run third inning and padded the lead with an RBI double in the sixth inning. He extended his hitting streak to a season-high nine games, piling up nine hits, four home runs and nine RBIs in the series, in which Houston took three of four.
Valdez (16-5) allowed four hits and two runs with seven strikeouts in six innings to pass Jacob deGrom (24 in 2018) for the most consecutive quality starts in a single season in MLB history. Valdez, who threw his first career shutout in his last start, is 15-4 during this streak, which began April 25.
His streak is tied for the third-longest all time across multiple seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.