Framber Valdez, who will be a free agent, cut his hair then delivered a sterling start for Astros in pennant race

Houston Astros' left-handed pitcher Framber Valdez looked somewhat different when he took the mound against the Athletics on Thursday afternoon. It was hard to miss: in what could be Valdez's last start of the regular season as an Astro, he was missing his signature extensions, giving him a unique dreadlock hairstyle.

Christian Walker homered and drove in three runs to back a strong start from Framber Valdez and the Houston Astros beat the Athletics 11-5 to snap a five-game losing streak.

Both teams will be looking to turn things around in their upcoming series, but for Houston, they're clinging to a postseason berth at the moment. Following the sweep at the hands of the Mariners, Houston sits three games back of Seattle in the AL West.

The Astros are a favorite (-150) against the Angels (+126). The Houston Astros will give the start to Jason Alexander (4-2, 4.83 ERA), who is looking for win No. 5 on the season, and the Angels will counter with Kyle Hendricks (8-10, 4.79 ERA).

Jeremy Peña has been able to take a 'few swings' and is taking it 'day by day' ahead of final three games in Anaheim.

The Houston Astros are in an intriguing position as the MLB regular season starts to wrap up. They have lost a substantial amount of their early-year momentum a