HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Astros manager Joe Espada has met with left-handed starter Framber Valdez and catcher César Salazar, who was hit in the chest with a pitch by his teammate during Tuesday's 7-1 loss to the Yankees.
Valdez said he apologized afterward to Salazar and that he didn’t intentionally hit his teammate.
Espada insisted a day later that the situation was “100%” resolved in his mind, and he wanted to “get past this and get back to baseball.”
He met with both players after speaking to the media postgame Tuesday.
“I really wanted to get down to: No. 1, asking him to step off, I wanted to know the thought process, which pitch, who was calling which pitch and what,” Espada said before Wednesday's game. “And, I wanted to hear from both of them at the same time.
“I wanted to have a conversation face to face because I wanted to hear the truth about the whole entire thing that happened in that inning. I have a whole lot of respect for both players, and I truly believe that when we had these conversations, that they are honest. I want them to tell me the truth, and I want them to tell you guys the truth once they talk to the media.”
Valdez gave up a grand slam to Trent Grisham in the fifth inning of the loss to New York. Then on the very next sequence, Valdez hit Salazar in the chest on a 1-0, 92.8-mph sinker to Anthony Volpe.
“What happened with us, we just got crossed up," Valdez said in Spanish through a translator. "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 did it 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 sorted things out.
“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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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB
Kristie Rieken, The Associated Press
