HOUSTON -- Last year¡¯s World Series was largely a forgettable experience for Astros lefty Framber Valdez, who took the mound twice against the Braves and gave up 10 runs in 4 2/3 innings. He allowed more home runs than batters struck out, joining the rest of Houston¡¯s healthy starters in running out of gas in late October.

With another year of maturity under his belt, Valdez returns to the World Series better equipped mentally and physically to compete on baseball¡¯s brightest stage. The Astros will give him the ball in Game 2 of the Fall Classic on Saturday at Minute Maid Park hoping he can ride the momentum of a terrific regular season and strong playoff performance with Houston trailing in the series, 1-0, following its 6-5 loss in Game 1 on Friday.

¡°I think last year my emotions got the better of me during the World Series,¡± Valdez said. ¡°I think the key for this year is just continue doing what I've been doing, try not to let the game get away from me, and I think we'll get good results there.¡±

Not much these days seems to bother Valdez, who blossomed into an All-Star this year and went 17-6 with a 2.82 ERA. He's kept it up in the postseason, holding the Mariners to two runs and four hits across 5 2/3 innings in Game 2 of the AL Division Series and not allowing an earned run in seven innings against the Yankees in Game 2 of the AL Championship Series. The two runs he allowed to the Yankees came on a play in which he made a fielding and a throwing error.

Astros manager Dusty Baker said Valdez is more mature than he was a year ago, which is the product of age and experience. The World Series stage is nothing new to him anymore.

¡°The more success that you have, then the more confidence that you have,¡± Baker said. ¡°Right now Framber's at a very high level of confidence. I also think that having [Justin Verlander] around, somebody to keep up with or to compare to has always helped.¡±

Valdez has been remarkably consistent this year, including a Major League-record streak of 25 consecutive quality starts that ended Sept. 18 in Baltimore. In his 22 regular-season starts last year, he had 13 quality starts. He faced the Phillies in his final regular-season start Oct. 5 and threw five scoreless innings, striking out 10 batters, walking one and allowing two hits.

¡°I think I've been a little bit more consistent this year on everything that I've done,¡± Valdez said. ¡°I feel good with the results that I've gotten and hopefully continue to get more.¡±

Valdez, who pairs one of the best curveballs in the game with an effective sinker, still has a tendency to walk batters, but routinely escapes jams because he¡¯s a ground-ball machine (66.6 percent in his career). He¡¯s always a pitch away from escaping a jam.

¡°I¡¯m just going to throw as many strikes as I can and attack them inside the strike zone,¡± Valdez said.