ARLINGTON, Texas -- Framber Valdez has denied intentionally hitting his catcher in the chest with a pitch almost immediately after giving up a grand slam in a loss to the New York Yankees last week.

The Houston left-hander did acknowledge after returning to the mound that he was focused on keeping his cool, even if the result was a 4-2 loss to the Texas Rangers on Sunday when Valdez gave up another critical home run.

"That was a priority for today," Valdez said through a translator. "I was just trying to keep my focus no matter if they hit a home run."

The two-time All-Star's reaction to Jake Burger 's two-run homer, which followed a tiebreaking double from Josh Jung in the sixth inning, was quite different from what happened after Trent Grisham 's grand slam in the Yankee

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