ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jack Leiter still had a no-hit bid going in the seventh inning after the Texas rookie right-hander and Houston lefty Framber Valdez matched zeros through each of their first nine outs.
The son of retired major league pitcher Al Leiter first noticed the day could be special when neither team had a hit through three innings of an eventual 4-3 victory for the Astros on Sunday.
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Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, right, takes the ball from starting pitcher Jack Leiter (35) during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
Houston Astros' Zach Dezenzo, left, and teammate Yainer Diaz, right, celebrate after Diaz hit a home run off Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter comes off the field after pitching against the Houston Astros during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter throws during the first inning against the Houston Astros in a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
Leiter wasn't with the big league club the previous time Valdez was on the mound at the home of the Rangers last August, when the two-time All-Star lost a no-hit bid with two outs in the ninth inning on Corey Seager's two-run homer.
Valdez got the win back then in a 4-2 Houston victory and again this time thanks to Isaac Paredes' go-ahead, three-run homer in the eighth off Robert Garcia as the Texas rivals split a four-game series.
“I think every game is its own learning experience,” Leiter said after pitching into the eighth inning for the first time in 13 career big league starts over two seasons. “That’s all I’m trying to do is soak it in as much as possible and learn as much as I can.
“Obviously there’s a lot of positive takeaways to build off of this one,” Leiter said. “Very unfortunate we don’t get the win on a getaway day, win the series, all that. We’ve got a lot of things going good for us there.”
Leiter lost his no-hit bid on Yainer Diaz's solo homer with two outs in the seventh, which pulled Houston to 3-1. The 25-year-old who was taken second overall in the 2021 amateur draft struck out Zach Dezenzo to finish the seventh, but gave up soft singles to Jake Meyers and Cam Smith leading off the eighth.
Chris Martin replaced Leiter but exited with right shoulder discomfort after one pitch. Garcia, a lefty, got two outs before Paredes' seventh homer.
“Balls found holes that inning,” Leiter said. “All day they weren’t finding holes. Start the eighth, still make good pitches, and two of them find holes. You leave the game with two runners on and no outs, you’ve got to hold yourself accountable to those. That’s a really tough ask out of the bullpen.”
Valdez was perfect in five of his first six innings, the exception being a three-run fourth that started with three consecutive singles. The 31-year-old escaped trouble in the seventh, setting the stage for the rally.
Nine months ago, Valdez's only wobble came with two outs in the ninth, when he allowed a walk ahead of Seager's shot. He said that outing wasn't on his mind as he cruised through three more innings this time.
“I’m not focused on what happened last time I was here,” Valdez said. “I’m focusing on what’s happening now. I felt like I had seven very good innings.”
Houston manager Joe Espada only saw the first two-plus innings of Leiter's effort live. He was ejected for arguing balls and strikes in the third.
“He’s got great stuff,” Espada said. “Explosive fastball, sliders. He works on the edges. He was efficient. I never give up on our guys. We’re going to give you a run for your money.”
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Texas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, right, takes the ball from starting pitcher Jack Leiter (35) during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
Houston Astros' Zach Dezenzo, left, and teammate Yainer Diaz, right, celebrate after Diaz hit a home run off Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter comes off the field after pitching against the Houston Astros during the fourth inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jack Leiter throws during the first inning against the Houston Astros in a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jerome Miron)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration's criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appeared on Monday to be emboldening defenders of the U.S. central bank, who pushed back against President Donald Trump’s efforts to exert more control over the Fed.
The backlash reflected the overarching stakes in determining the balance of power within the federal government and the path of the U.S. economy at a time of uncertainty about inflation and a slowing job market. This has created a sense among some Republican lawmakers and leading economists that the Trump administration had overstepped the Fed's independence by sending subpoenas.
The criminal investigation — a first for a sitting Fed chair — sparked an unusually robust response from Powell and a full-throated defense from three former Fed chairs, a group of top economic officials and even Republican senators tasked with voting on Trump's eventual pick to replace Powell as Fed chair when his term expires in May.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump did not direct his Justice Department to investigate Powell, who has proven to be a foil for Trump by insisting on setting the Fed's benchmark interest rates based on the data instead of the president's wishes.
“One thing for sure, the president’s made it quite clear, is Jerome Powell is bad at his job,” Leavitt said. “As for whether or not Jerome Powell is a criminal, that’s an answer the Department of Justice is going to have to find out.”
The investigation demonstrates the lengths the Trump administration is willing to go to try to assert control over the Fed, an independent agency that the president believes should follow his claims that inflationary pressures have faded enough for drastic rate cuts to occur. Trump has repeatedly used investigations — which might or might not lead to an actual indictment — to attack his political rivals.
The risks go far beyond Washington infighting to whether people can find work or afford their groceries. If the Fed errs in setting rates, inflation could surge or job losses could mount. Trump maintains that an economic boom is occurring and rates should be cut to pump more money into the economy, while Powell has taken a more cautious approach in the wake of Trump's tariffs.
Several Republican senators have condemned the Department of Justice's subpoenas of the Fed, which Powell revealed Sunday and characterized as “pretexts” to pressure him to sharply cut interest rates. Powell also said the Justice Department has threatened criminal indictments over his June testimony to Congress about the cost and design elements of a $2.5 billion building renovation that includes the Fed's headquarters.
“After speaking with Chair Powell this morning, it’s clear the administration’s investigation is nothing more than an attempt at coercion,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on Monday.
Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said on social media that the Fed “ignored” her office’s outreach to discuss the renovation cost overruns, “necessitating the use of legal process — which is not a threat.”
“The word ‘indictment’ has come out of Mr. Powell’s mouth, no one else’s,” Pirro posted on X, although the subpoenas and the White House’s own statement about determining Powell's criminality would suggest the risk of an indictment.
A bipartisan group of former Fed chairs and top economists on Monday called the Trump administration's investigation “an unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks" to undermine the Fed's independence, stressing that central banks controlled by political leaders tend to produce higher inflation and lower growth.
“I think this is ham-handed, counter-productive, and going to set back the president’s cause,” said Jason Furman, an economist at Harvard and former top adviser to President Barack Obama. The investigation could also unify the Fed’s interest-rate setting committee in support of Powell, and means “the next Fed chair will be under more pressure to prove their independence.”
The subpoenas apply to Powell's statements before a congressional committee about the renovation of Fed buildings, including its marble-clad headquarters in Washington, D.C. They come at an unusual moment when Trump was teasing the likelihood of announcing his nominee this month to succeed Powell as the Fed chair and could possibly be self-defeating for the nomination process.
While Powell's term as chair ends in four months, he has a separate term as a Fed governor until January 2028, meaning that he could remain on the board. If Powell stays on the board, Trump could be blocked from appointing an outside candidate of his choice to be the chair.
Powell quickly found a growing number of defenders among Republicans in the Senate, who will have the choice of whether to confirm Trump's planned pick for Fed chair.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican and member of the Senate Banking panel, said late Sunday that he would oppose any of the Trump administration’s Fed nominees until the investigation is "resolved."
“If there were any remaining doubt whether advisers within the Trump Administration are actively pushing to end the independence of the Federal Reserve, there should now be none,” Tillis said.
Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Penn, said the Fed may have wasted public dollars with its renovation, but he said, “I do not think Chairman Powell is guilty of criminal activity.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune offered a brief but stern response Monday about the tariffs as he arrived at the U.S. Capitol, suggesting that the administration needed “serious” evidence of wrongdoing to take such a significant step.
“I haven’t seen the case or whatever the allegations or charges are, but I would say they better, they better be real and they better be serious,” said Thune, a Republican representing South Dakota.
If Powell stays on the board after his term as chair ends, the Trump administration would be deprived of the chance to fill another seat that would give the administration a majority on the seven-member board. That majority could then enact significant reforms at the Fed and even block the appointment of presidents at the Fed's 12 regional banks.
“They could do a lot of reorganizing and reforms” without having to pass new legislation, said Mark Spindel, chief investment officer at Potomac River Capital and author of a book on Fed independence. “That seat is very valuable.”
Powell has declined at several press conferences to answer questions about his plans to stay or leave the board.
Scott Alvarez, former general counsel at the Fed, says the investigation is intended to intimidate Powell from staying on the board. The probe is occurring now “to say to Chair Powell, ’We’ll use every mechanism that the administration has to make your life miserable unless you leave the Board in May,'" Alvarez said.
Asked on Monday by reporters if Powell planned to remain a Fed governor, Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council and a leading candidate to become Fed chair, said he was unaware of Powell’s plans.
“I’ve not talked to Jay about that,” Hassett said.
A bipartisan group of former Fed chairs and top economists said in their Monday letter that the administration’s legal actions and the possible loss of Fed independence could hurt the broader economy.
“This is how monetary policy is made in emerging markets with weak institutions, with highly negative consequences for inflation and the functioning of their economies more broadly,” the statement said.
The statement was signed by former Fed chairs Ben Bernanke, Janet Yellen, and Alan Greenspan, as well as former Treasury Secretaries Henry Paulson and Robert Rubin.
Still, Trump's pressure campaign had been building for some time, with him relentlessly criticizing and belittling Powell.
He even appeared to preview the shocking news of the subpoenas at a Dec. 29 news conference by saying he would bring a lawsuit against Powell over the renovation costs.
“He’s just a very incompetent man,” Trump said. “But we’re going to probably bring a lawsuit against him.”
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AP writers Lisa Mascaro and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.
FILE - Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, right, and President Donald Trump look over a document of cost figures during a visit to the Federal Reserve, July 24, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
