Peter Lambert restored order Sunday, putting the clamps on Tampa Bay’s bats a day after the Rays hit three homers in battering Astros pitching.
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros’ Christian Walker celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the fourth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros’ Christian Walker celebrates after hitting a home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the fourth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros’ Christian Walker watches his home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the fourth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros’ Christian Walker hits a home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the fourth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros center fielder Taylor Trammell catches a fly ball by Tampa Bay Rays’ Jonathan Aranda during the third inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
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Tampa Bay Rays’ Yandy Díaz, right, is safe at first base after Houston Astros first baseman Christian Walker missed the tag during the eighth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros’ Isaac Paredes, center, celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the sixth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros’ Isaac Paredes celebrates after hitting a home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the sixth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros’ Isaac Paredes runs up the first base line after hitting a home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the sixth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros’ Isaac Paredes, left, and Christian Walker celebrate after a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros pitcher Josh Hader throws against the Tampa Bay Rays during the ninth inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 5, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros starting pitcher Peter Lambert throws against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 5, 2026 in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Houston Astros starting pitcher Peter Lambert throws against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 5, 2026 in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
David J. Phillip/Associated Press
Peter Lambert’s road to becoming a productive major league starter has taken him from Colorado to Japan and now to Houston.
On Sunday, Lambert threw 5 ⅔ strong innings to help the Houston Astros defeat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-0 at Daikin Park, in their final home game before the All-Star break.
Lambert threw 90 pitches (60 strikes) and allowed just three hits and one walk. He struck out six batters before giving way to left-hander Steven Okert with two outs in the sixth inning. As Lambert walked off the mound, the crowd responded with a standing ovation. Okert, Bryan King and Josh Hader finished the combined four-hit shutout.
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Astros manager Joe Espada said Lambert once again gave the club exactly what it needed from its starter.
“(Lambert) competes, he’s tough, he throws strikes, he mixes very well,” Espada said. “He’s got the repertoire to keep any lineup off-balance.”
Lambert credited his ability to stay in the strike zone and trust his pitch mix throughout the outing.
“We were in and out of the strike zone for the most part when we needed to be, and all in all (I am) happy with it,” he said.
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Sunday’s performance lowered Lambert’s ERA to 3.26, the best among the Astros’ starting pitchers this season.
In June, Lambert allowed at least one home run every outing. In his previous start Monday against the Minnesota Twins, he pitched for five innings, allowing four runs — including three homers — with four strikeouts to three walks.
On Sunday, Lambert was able to shut down the Rays’ lineup, notably All-Star Junior Caminero, who has a .291 batting average, 26 home runs and 56 RBIs this season. Caminero did not reach base until he drew a leadoff walk in the ninth inning against Hader.
After hitting five home runs and scoring 11 runs the previous two nights, Tampa Bay’s lineup did not record an extra-base hit Sunday.
“We just attacked the strike zone pretty well,” Lambert said. “(Catcher Christian Vazquez) comes in with an unbelievable game plan every time and we were able to execute it pretty good.”
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BATTERS
AVG
OBA
AB
R
H
2B
3B
HR
RBI
BB
SO
SB
CS
E
Team Totals
.241
.315
3089
413
745
142
7
122
395
302
754
29
12
38
Alvarez
.320
.429
325
62
104
16
0
29
67
59
67
1
0
2
Peña
.295
.356
183
34
54
9
0
6
21
15
35
8
1
5
Correa
.279
.369
122
22
34
8
0
3
16
18
26
1
0
1
Delgado
.267
.313
30
3
8
1
0
1
4
2
5
0
0
2
Paredes
.254
.348
307
36
78
16
0
12
47
33
55
0
0
6
Trammell
.252
.316
107
14
27
5
1
3
11
9
40
1
0
1
Shewmake
.243
.260
74
8
18
3
0
3
8
2
13
0
0
1
Walker
.238
.311
336
47
80
16
1
20
57
31
85
0
0
0
Altuve
.236
.314
259
41
61
13
1
8
22
29
63
2
2
3
Diaz
.235
.261
149
13
35
7
0
4
19
5
26
0
1
1
Allen
.235
.284
81
14
19
3
0
1
6
5
20
1
0
1
Harris
.226
.286
31
4
7
0
1
0
4
2
6
2
0
0
Wade
.222
.263
18
2
4
2
0
1
4
1
6
0
0
0
Smith
.221
.293
303
36
67
13
1
11
32
28
83
9
1
4
Vázquez
.218
.275
165
17
36
6
0
4
19
13
31
0
0
0
Loperfido
.216
.314
102
13
22
7
1
1
12
14
31
1
1
1
Meyers
.206
.264
136
14
28
6
0
3
11
10
30
1
2
0
Dezenzo
.204
.264
49
5
10
4
0
1
3
4
20
0
0
0
Matthews
.191
.244
194
20
37
5
1
6
18
14
68
2
4
1
Price
.167
.231
12
1
2
1
0
0
0
1
6
0
0
1
Cole
.157
.189
51
4
8
1
0
3
8
1
21
0
0
1
Johnson
.143
.294
14
1
2
0
0
0
0
2
3
0
0
0
Whitcomb
.130
.167
23
2
3
0
0
2
5
1
11
0
0
0
Salazar
.056
.227
18
0
1
0
0
0
1
3
3
0
0
0
___
PITCHERS
W
L
ERA
G
GS
SV
IP
H
R
ER
HR
BB
SO
Team Totals
45
47
4.72
92
92
27
815.1
730
457
428
124
397
795
Ullola
0
0
0.00
2
0
0
4
2
0
0
0
0
7
Meyers
0
0
0.00
1
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
Hader
3
0
0.60
15
0
9
15
2
1
1
1
7
24
Santa
0
1
0.71
8
0
0
12.2
5
5
1
0
5
8
VanWey
1
0
1.50
5
0
0
6
5
2
1
0
0
5
King
2
1
2.08
37
0
6
39
32
11
9
1
14
30
Okert
1
1
2.49
43
1
0
43.1
26
12
12
5
12
41
Lambert
7
5
3.26
14
14
0
80
60
29
29
10
32
74
Blubaugh
4
2
3.36
34
0
0
56.1
40
22
21
5
29
53
Brown
1
0
3.38
6
6
0
29.1
23
13
11
4
17
35
Arrighetti
7
4
3.81
14
14
0
78
58
35
33
10
38
79
Pearson
1
0
4.00
14
0
1
18
15
10
8
1
11
14
Teng
4
6
4.36
23
10
0
64
59
35
31
10
28
63
De Los Santos
0
2
4.76
37
0
5
39.2
38
23
21
5
9
37
Roa
0
1
5.19
7
0
0
8.2
10
5
5
1
7
6
Bolton
0
1
5.40
8
3
1
20
21
12
12
3
14
22
Burrows
4
8
5.58
17
16
0
90.1
103
59
56
19
33
72
Abreu
2
3
5.90
32
0
5
29
24
21
19
7
25
37
Imai
5
4
6.14
12
12
0
48.1
41
33
33
8
30
60
McCullers
2
3
6.86
8
8
0
39.1
38
32
30
7
22
43
Murray
0
0
7.43
8
0
0
13.1
19
11
11
1
7
8
Weiss
0
3
7.62
9
2
0
26
35
24
22
8
20
30
France
0
0
8.10
3
0
0
6.2
6
6
6
1
5
4
Sousa
0
0
8.10
5
0
0
3.1
3
3
3
0
5
4
Salazar
0
0
9.00
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
Alexander
1
1
9.33
4
2
0
18.1
21
19
19
4
8
14
Javier
0
1
11.12
4
3
0
11.1
15
14
14
3
10
8
Gordon
0
0
11.57
4
1
0
9.1
21
12
12
6
3
11
Muñoz
0
0
15.75
3
0
0
4
7
7
7
3
6
6
Since joining Houston’s rotation, Lambert has provided stability for a staff that has battled injuries throughout the first half of the season. He improved to 7-5, with 74 strikeouts to 32 walks in 80 innings this season.
Few would have expected Lambert to become such an important piece of Houston’s pitching staff before the season began.
The right-hander made his major league debut with the Colorado Rockies in 2019 and spent six seasons with the organization before leaving for Japan ahead of the 2025 season. Lambert signed with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, where he went 3-11 with a 4.26 ERA over 116 innings.
Houston signed Lambert to a minor league contract last November that included an opt-out clause. Near the end of spring training, Lambert requested his release after not making the opening-day roster.
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Instead of moving on, Lambert re-signed with the Astros on a new minor league deal and reported to Triple-A Sugar Land. He made three appearances, including two starts, before Houston’s mounting injuries created an opportunity in the major league rotation.
“(Lambert) doesn’t really give in,” Espada said. “We asked him to go to Triple-A and he wanted to stay here, and I’m glad he chose to stay here because he’s been phenomenal.”
Since being called up, Lambert has emerged as one of Houston’s most dependable starters, consistently giving the Astros quality innings while being a stabilizing force in the rotation.
The Astros now sit just two games below .500. The goal — be there by the All-Star break in a week.
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“With how the season started for us, we’ve been just trying to scratch and claw our way back,” Lambert said. “We’re playing some pretty good ball right now. So we got six games before break, obviously it’s always a goal to finish strong.”