Well, Houston Astros fans, I have some good and bad news. I will give you the bad news first.

The Astros (6-5) dropped a half-game out of first place with a 7-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels (7-5) Tuesday night as starting pitcher Framber Valdez had another rough outing allowing six earned in 4 1/3 innings.

The good news is that Valdez lasted 1 1/3 innings longer than he did in his last start against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and that is progress.

“He wasn’t as sharp,” said Astros manager Dusty Baker. “He’s getting two strikes on guys and just didn’t put them away tonight. In that one inning they hit some flares in there. It’s not like they were hitting him all over the ballpark. We were hoping for a couple ground-ball double plays, which we got the ground ball, but it found the holes.”

That inning that Baker is speaking of is the top of the fifth, where everything just unraveled for Valdez, who had success against the same Angels team in the season’s opening game, going 6 2/3 scoreless innings. He allowed four consecutive singles and two runs before being relieved by Bryan Abreu. It was the end of a very inconsistent night for Valdez as he allowed eight hits, six earned runs, and walked four batters.

Veteran catcher Martín Maldonado also believes that Valdez was having a good game and kept the Astros within striking distance despite being stagnant at the plate, scattering four hits that produced only one run through four innings.

“He kept us in the ballgame until that (fifth) inning,” Maldonado said after the game. “A bad inning could happen to anybody. If you look at how that inning started, a blooper in right field, that’s part of the game.”

Valdez (1-1) refuses to blame a short 2022 Spring Training on his inefficiency. He has walked a combined nine batters in his last two starts and given up seven earned runs. Yet, he knows precisely where his issues are on the mound and believes it is an easy fix.

“I think there are inconsistencies in my mechanics and also inconsistencies in throwing strikes,” Valdez said.

On Wednesday, the Astros will wrap up their final game against the Angels before getting a much-needed day of rest heading into a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays.