Yankees, Trent Grisham might've ignited Astros' spiral after Framber Valdez drama

On Tuesday night, the New York Yankees notched one of their most satisfying wins of the season. They handily defeated the Houston Astros 7-1 in the series opener and just about every bounce went their way. The pitcher's duel between Max Fried and Framber Valdez turned into a one-sided affair.

With the Yankees leading 2-0 in the top of the fifth (thanks to Jazz Chisholm's two-run bomb in the second), Valdez got himself into some trouble. He loaded the bases on a walk and two singles, but all he needed to do was get Trent Grisham out to escape the jam.

Instead, on a 1-0 count, he grooved a two-seamer right over the plate. Grisham powered it to left field and sent it over the Crawford Boxes for a grand slam. 6-0, Yankees. And with the way Fried was throwing, it was all but over. The left-hander would complete two more innings and then Paul Blackburn finished the final two frames to reset the bullpen for the remainder of the series.

In the process, the Yankees might've created some discord in the Astros' clubhouse. Cesar Salazar, who was starting at catcher for Houston, could be seen telling Valdez to step off the mound as the pitch clock wound down before the mistake was made vs Grisham.

Valdez ignored, threw the pitch anyway, and served up the grand slam. Two pitches later with Anthony Volpe in the batter's box, Valdez appeared to have intentionally crossed Salazar up with his offering and drilled him in the midsection with a 93 MPH fastball. It appeared so intentional, in fact, that Valdez was asked about it after the game, denied it was on purpose, said he had already apologized to Salazar in the dugout, and was apparently called into manager Joe Espada's office to address the situation.

Yankees' win over Astros ignites drama involving star Framber Valdez

Some believed this was direct retaliation for Salazar "distracting" Valdez before that pitch to Grisham, but we're not sure how it could possibly be viewed that way. The left-hander could've simply stepped off the mound if he was truly thrown off his axis. And if he was that disrupted, then how did he manage to throw a perfect pitch in the sense that it had tremendous movement and went right to where Salazar was setting up?

Clearly, Salazar had some sort of tell, whether it was with Grisham's approach or Valdez's delivery/pitch selection. He was trying to help his pitcher, and he ended up being right because the pitch Valdez called for resulted in four runs scoring. It was extremely unprofessional for Valdez to act the way he did immediately after, whether the cross-up was intentional or not. After Salazar ate the fastball off his protective gear, Valdez turned around and appeared to show no remorse whatsoever.

One can only hope this results in an Astros' spiral for the ages. With the Texas Rangers surging in the AL Wild Card picture (and only 4.5 games back of Houston), there's a real chance the Astros fall out of the playoff race if their current 8-10 slide continues to coincide with Texas' surge (8-2 in their last 10). Not to mention, the Mariners are still just three games back of the division as the current third Wild Card team.

Yankees fans have long been waiting for karmic retribution for the Astros' sign-stealing scandal and their resulting smug behavior. Though the usual suspects who partook in those actions are no longer with the organization, any Astros choke job will do. And if Valdez's childish actions make for a September spiral, we're all here for it.

The Yankees are playing with house money these next two games and can spark the beginning of the end for Houston if they can stay on track.