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HOUSTON - The 2022 World Series features multiple aces. Regardless of one's definition -- your mileage may vary, but I generally believe an ace means a No. 1 starter and with 30 teams it's a top-30 pitcher -- Justin Verlander is absolutely an ace. He's likely to win the 2022 AL Cy Young Award. On the Phillies side, we've spent a lot of time, rightfully, discussing their pair of aces in Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola

Is Framber Valdez an ace? I think we can fit him in there. I understand my definition is a bit more liberal than some, but he has a great case to be considered an ace by several different thresholds. He's the least heralded of all the names I've mentioned, but he's a workhorse, All-Star, Cy Young contender and looked the part in Game 2, a 5-2 Astros win. Call him the Unsung Ace of the World Series. 

And, frankly, he's the only one of the four starters to have pitched like an ace this series. Verlander, Wheeler and Nola have combined to allow 15 runs in 14 1/3 innings. Valdez has been the pitching star. 

A big story in Game 2 was the Astros jumping on Wheeler in the first inning, notably punishing his first-pitch strike offerings. The Phillies defense let them down and suddenly it was 3-0. No one should lose focus from what Valdez did, though. He's one of the biggest reasons this series is now tied, 1-1, heading to Philadelphia. 

"This guy has been as consistent as any pitcher that I've ever had throughout the course of the year, and he just continued to do the same thing during the playoffs," said Astros manager Dusty Baker. "He gets big outs. He makes big pitches."  

To pick up from a point Baker made on consistency, Valdez had a breakout season in 2022. He posted a 2.81 ERA in 31 starts and led the AL in both innings pitched and complete games. He had a 25-start stretch where he never allowed more than three earned runs in a game while averaging nearly seven innings (6.8) per start. The addition of a cutter is part of what helped make him into a first-time All-Star. 

"The cutter's been good for me this year," he said Friday during a pregame press conference. "I've gotten good results with that pitch. When you get good results there you don't change anything. So I'm going to continue throwing it. It's been good."  

Not only does he get good results with the cutter on its own, but it also helps setup his sinker, as both pitches come out of the hand similarly and have essentially the same shape to hitters. 

Saturday night in Game 2, Valdez threw 10 cutters, two of which got swings and misses. It wasn't heavy use, but the point of adding it to his arsenal was to keep hitters more off-balance. He relied heavily on his sinker and curveball, getting 13 swings and misses with the two pitches while inducing some weak contact. The sinker and curve were the elite-level pitches in Game 2, but, again, with that cutter in the heads of hitters, it's a big advantage for Valdez. 

His stuff was top notch, possibly the best it has been, according to someone with a good view. 

"I saw a lot from Framber today," center fielder Chas McCormick said with a huge smile when asked what he saw from his teammate. "His sinker was breaking so much. His curveball was sharp, He's amazing, I'll tell you what. Tonight was probably the best I've ever seen him pitch. He was locked in, his ball was moving everywhere. It would be really hard to 'piece up' Framber."   

The final line: 6 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K. 

The opposing manager took notice as well. 

"His sinker was fantastic," said Phillies skipper Rob Thomson. "His curveball was pretty good. His put away pitches were good. He pitched well, and he's been doing that for awhile now."  

The one run Valdez allowed crossed the plate on another pitcher's watch, though the runner, Nick Castellanos, did reach base against Valdez, so he got charged with the run. That's an ace-like line these days. In fact, would you believe this was the longest outing for a starting pitcher in the World Series since 2019? For real, the last time someone went this deep was also in Minute Maid Park. Zack Greinke worked 6 1/3 innings in Game 7 in 2019. 

This was not the first World Series start of Valdez's career. Last year, he had a hand in keeping that Greinke stat alive, making two starts against the Braves in which he struggled mightily, coughing up five runs in less than three innings both in Game 1 and Game 5. Now armed with his cutter and coming off said the aforementioned breakout season, things were much different. 

"I think last year my emotions got the better of me during the World Series," he said Friday. "I think the key for this year is just continue doing what I've been doing, try not to let the game get away from me." 

He was definitely in control of this game, from the very start. His first pitch was a called strike to Kyle Schwarber and it was a pretty dominant outing from there. 

"Just amazing performance by him," Alex Bregman said of the ace. 

As the old saying goes, "momentum is the next game's starting pitcher." The Phillies stormed back from a five-run deficit to steal Game 1. An Astros loss here would have meant a 2-0 deficit heading to Philly. The momentum, however, was Framber Valdez. He is an ace and he pitched like it when the Astros badly needed a win. That's what aces do, after all.