{"id":370075,"date":"2026-07-12T05:54:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T05:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/370075\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T05:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T05:54:08","slug":"houston-astros-confidence-in-peter-lambert-shows-in-another-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/370075\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Astros: Confidence in Peter Lambert shows in another win"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Manager<\/p>\n

Manager Joe\u00a0Espada’s faith in Peter Lambert showed during a battle in the middle innings Saturday as the\u00a0Astros right-hander displayed his “bulldog” mentality.<\/p>\n

LM Otero\/Associated Press\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros’ Christian V\u00e1zquez celebrates in the dugout after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)<\/p>\n

LM Otero\/Associated Press\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros’ Christian V\u00e1zquez (2) celebrates as he runs the bases past Texas Rangers first baseman Jake Burger, right, after hitting a home run during the fourth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)<\/p>\n

LM Otero\/Associated Press\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Rangers’ Joc Pederson, bottom, gets back to first base, beating a pickoff throw to Houston Astros first baseman Christian Walker, top, during the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)<\/p>\n

LM Otero\/Associated Press\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros starting pitcher Peter Lambert throws during the third inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)<\/p>\n

LM Otero\/Associated Press\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros’ LaMonte Wade Jr. is congratulated in the dugout after hitting a grand slam during the third inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)<\/p>\n

LM Otero\/Associated Press\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros’ LaMonte Wade Jr. runs the bases after hitting a grand slam during the third inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)<\/p>\n

LM Otero\/Associated Press\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros’ Yordan Alvarez runs the bases after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)<\/p>\n

LM Otero\/Associated Press\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros’ Yordan Alvarez runs the bases after hitting a home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers, Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)<\/p>\n

LM Otero\/Associated Press\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez hits a home run against the Texas Rangers during the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo\/LM Otero)<\/p>\n

LM Otero\/Associated Press\"Texas<\/p>\n

Texas Rangers center fielder Evan Carter (32) is tagged out by Houston Astros shortstop Jeremy Pe\u00f1a (3) during the seventh inning of a baseball game at Globe Life Field, Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Arlington.<\/p>\n

Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros Lamonte Wade Jr. celebrates after hitting a grand slam with his teammates during the third inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field, Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Arlington. Houston Astros Isaac Paredes (15), Yordan Alvarez (44) and Jose Altuve (27) scored.<\/p>\n

Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros pitcher Peter Lambert (38) delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field, Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Arlington.<\/p>\n

Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros Yordan Alvarez (44) and Jeremy Pe\u00f1a (3) gets high-fives after Alvarez hit a home run and Pe\u00f1a also scored during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field, Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Arlington.<\/p>\n

Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros Yordan Alvarez (44), left, and Jeremy Pe\u00f1a (3) celebrate after Alvarez hit a home run and Pe\u00f1a also scored during the first inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field, Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Arlington.<\/p>\n

Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News\"Houston<\/p>\n

Houston Astros left fielder Yordan Alvarez (44) rounds the bases after hitting a home run as Texas Rangers pitcher Kumar Rocker (80) looks down during the first inning of a baseball game at Globe Life Field, Saturday, July 11, 2026, in Arlington.<\/p>\n

Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n

ARLINGTON\u00a0\u2014 Brandon Nimmo entered the batter\u2019s box and began a battle. In front of Peter Lambert\u2019s first-pitch changeup, Texas\u2019 left-handed hitting cleanup man blasted it foul off the fa\u00e7ade of the upper deck at Globe Life Field. Two pitches later, he hooked another just foul down the right-field line.<\/p>\n

A six-run lead in Saturday\u2019s sixth inning offered Lambert some leeway. A rising pitch count shortened it, however. A reliever warmed behind him in the Houston Astros<\/a>\u00a0bullpen. Two outs separated him from a quality start. Catcher Christian\u00a0V\u00e1zquez delved into Lambert\u2019s repertoire.<\/p>\n

Nimmo fouled off a four-seam fastball, then a cutter, then a slider. He took a slurve off the outer edge. For the at-bat\u2019s eighth pitch, and his 100th of the night, Lambert went back to his best swing-and-miss weapon. Nimmo waved at the changeup for strike three.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a big battle,\u201d Lambert said. \u201cObviously, I\u2019m deep into the game, getting pretty tired. He was fouling off a bunch of pitches, and I knew if he got on it might have been my last guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

What followed carried weight. Lambert glanced toward the Astros’ dugout. His manager met his gaze.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe looked in and I\u2019m like, \u2018This is your out, man,\u2019\u201d Joe Espada said. \u201c\u2018You\u2019re going to finish this inning.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Seven pitches later, Lambert did. A four-seamer froze Jake Burger for strike three and the punctuation, for the right-hander helping sustain the Houston rotation, on an improbable first half.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Little about Lambert\u2019s minor-league contract this spring, or his previous 6.28 ERA in the majors for the Rockies, or his detour to Japan last season, could have foretold it. Lambert has arguably been the most reliable starter<\/a> for an Astros team still hovering two games out of first place in the sorry AL West.<\/p>\n

Starting the season at Triple-A leaves Lambert without enough innings to qualify for rate stats. His 3.14 ERA through 86 innings is higher than just seven qualified AL starters. He leads Houston starters in ERA and wins (8) and is second in innings behind Mike Burrows, who is now at Triple-A.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it\u2019s been nice to get back to the major leagues,\u201d Lambert said after his six innings in the Astros\u2019 9-3 win over the Rangers<\/a>. \u201cThis is where I want to play and I\u2019m happy with how it\u2019s going, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

BATTERS
\nAVG
\nOBA
\nAB
\nR
\nH
\n2B
\n3B
\nHR
\nRBI
\nBB
\nSO
\nSB
\nCS
\nE<\/p>\n

Team Totals
\n.242
\n.315
\n3259
\n444
\n788
\n151
\n7
\n131
\n423
\n317
\n789
\n34
\n12
\n41<\/p>\n

Alvarez
\n.315
\n.422
\n346
\n65
\n109
\n17
\n0
\n31
\n70
\n61
\n72
\n1
\n0
\n2<\/p>\n

Pe\u00f1a
\n.293
\n.355
\n191
\n35
\n56
\n9
\n0
\n6
\n21
\n15
\n35
\n8
\n1
\n5<\/p>\n

Correa
\n.279
\n.369
\n122
\n22
\n34
\n8
\n0
\n3
\n16
\n18
\n26
\n1
\n0
\n1<\/p>\n

Delgado
\n.267
\n.313
\n30
\n3
\n8
\n1
\n0
\n1
\n4
\n2
\n5
\n0
\n0
\n2<\/p>\n

Shewmake
\n.256
\n.272
\n78
\n10
\n20
\n4
\n0
\n3
\n9
\n2
\n13
\n0
\n0
\n2<\/p>\n

Paredes
\n.254
\n.348
\n327
\n39
\n83
\n18
\n0
\n12
\n47
\n36
\n60
\n0
\n0
\n6<\/p>\n

Wade
\n.250
\n.300
\n28
\n5
\n7
\n2
\n0
\n2
\n8
\n2
\n9
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Diaz
\n.244
\n.267
\n164
\n17
\n40
\n9
\n0
\n6
\n23
\n5
\n27
\n0
\n1
\n1<\/p>\n

Allen
\n.241
\n.292
\n87
\n14
\n21
\n3
\n0
\n1
\n9
\n6
\n22
\n2
\n0
\n2<\/p>\n

Walker
\n.239
\n.313
\n356
\n50
\n85
\n19
\n1
\n20
\n58
\n32
\n89
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Altuve
\n.235
\n.308
\n281
\n44
\n66
\n13
\n1
\n10
\n26
\n29
\n68
\n2
\n2
\n3<\/p>\n

Trammell
\n.234
\n.298
\n111
\n14
\n26
\n5
\n1
\n3
\n11
\n9
\n41
\n1
\n0
\n1<\/p>\n

Harris
\n.226
\n.286
\n31
\n4
\n7
\n0
\n1
\n0
\n4
\n2
\n6
\n2
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

V\u00e1zquez
\n.222
\n.280
\n171
\n18
\n38
\n6
\n0
\n5
\n22
\n14
\n32
\n1
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Smith
\n.218
\n.292
\n317
\n38
\n69
\n13
\n1
\n11
\n33
\n31
\n85
\n9
\n1
\n4<\/p>\n

Dezenzo
\n.218
\n.295
\n55
\n8
\n12
\n4
\n0
\n1
\n3
\n6
\n23
\n1
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Loperfido
\n.216
\n.314
\n102
\n13
\n22
\n7
\n1
\n1
\n12
\n14
\n31
\n1
\n1
\n1<\/p>\n

Meyers
\n.206
\n.264
\n136
\n14
\n28
\n6
\n0
\n3
\n11
\n10
\n30
\n1
\n2
\n0<\/p>\n

Matthews
\n.197
\n.250
\n208
\n23
\n41
\n5
\n1
\n7
\n22
\n15
\n71
\n4
\n4
\n1<\/p>\n

Price
\n.167
\n.231
\n12
\n1
\n2
\n1
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n1
\n6
\n0
\n0
\n1<\/p>\n

Cole
\n.157
\n.189
\n51
\n4
\n8
\n1
\n0
\n3
\n8
\n1
\n21
\n0
\n0
\n1<\/p>\n

Johnson
\n.143
\n.294
\n14
\n1
\n2
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n2
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Whitcomb
\n.130
\n.167
\n23
\n2
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n2
\n5
\n1
\n11
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Salazar
\n.056
\n.227
\n18
\n0
\n1
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n1
\n3
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

PITCHERS
\nW
\nL
\nERA
\nG
\nGS
\nSV
\nIP
\nH
\nR
\nER
\nHR
\nBB
\nSO<\/p>\n

Team Totals
\n47
\n50
\n4.79
\n97
\n97
\n28
\n857.1
\n778
\n490
\n456
\n136
\n422
\n836<\/p>\n

Ullola
\n0
\n0
\n0.00
\n2
\n0
\n0
\n4
\n2
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n7<\/p>\n

Meyers
\n0
\n0
\n0.00
\n1
\n0
\n0
\n1
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Hader
\n3
\n0
\n0.59
\n16
\n0
\n10
\n15.1
\n3
\n1
\n1
\n1
\n8
\n25<\/p>\n

Santa
\n0
\n1
\n1.17
\n10
\n0
\n0
\n15.1
\n8
\n6
\n2
\n1
\n6
\n9<\/p>\n

VanWey
\n1
\n0
\n1.50
\n5
\n0
\n0
\n6
\n5
\n2
\n1
\n0
\n0
\n5<\/p>\n

Okert
\n2
\n1
\n2.36
\n45
\n1
\n0
\n45.2
\n27
\n12
\n12
\n5
\n12
\n46<\/p>\n

King
\n2
\n2
\n2.85
\n39
\n0
\n6
\n41
\n37
\n15
\n13
\n3
\n15
\n32<\/p>\n

Lambert
\n8
\n5
\n3.14
\n15
\n15
\n0
\n86
\n63
\n30
\n30
\n11
\n33
\n81<\/p>\n

Brown
\n1
\n0
\n3.57
\n7
\n7
\n0
\n35.1
\n27
\n16
\n14
\n5
\n22
\n39<\/p>\n

Pearson
\n1
\n0
\n3.60
\n16
\n0
\n1
\n20
\n16
\n10
\n8
\n1
\n12
\n16<\/p>\n

Blubaugh
\n4
\n2
\n3.75
\n36
\n0
\n0
\n60
\n46
\n26
\n25
\n7
\n30
\n60<\/p>\n

Teng
\n4
\n6
\n4.36
\n23
\n10
\n0
\n64
\n59
\n35
\n31
\n10
\n28
\n63<\/p>\n

De Los Santos
\n0
\n2
\n4.43
\n40
\n0
\n5
\n42.2
\n40
\n23
\n21
\n5
\n10
\n40<\/p>\n

Arrighetti
\n7
\n5
\n4.50
\n15
\n15
\n0
\n82
\n65
\n43
\n41
\n12
\n44
\n81<\/p>\n

Roa
\n0
\n1
\n5.19
\n7
\n0
\n0
\n8.2
\n10
\n5
\n5
\n1
\n7
\n6<\/p>\n

Bolton
\n0
\n1
\n5.40
\n8
\n3
\n1
\n20
\n21
\n12
\n12
\n3
\n14
\n22<\/p>\n

Abreu
\n2
\n3
\n5.70
\n33
\n0
\n5
\n30
\n25
\n21
\n19
\n7
\n25
\n38<\/p>\n

Burrows
\n4
\n9
\n5.99
\n18
\n17
\n0
\n94.2
\n112
\n69
\n63
\n21
\n35
\n75<\/p>\n

Imai
\n5
\n4
\n6.06
\n13
\n13
\n0
\n52
\n45
\n35
\n35
\n9
\n33
\n63<\/p>\n

McCullers
\n2
\n3
\n6.86
\n8
\n8
\n0
\n39.1
\n38
\n32
\n30
\n7
\n22
\n43<\/p>\n

Murray
\n0
\n0
\n7.43
\n8
\n0
\n0
\n13.1
\n19
\n11
\n11
\n1
\n7
\n8<\/p>\n

Weiss
\n0
\n3
\n7.62
\n9
\n2
\n0
\n26
\n35
\n24
\n22
\n8
\n20
\n30<\/p>\n

France
\n0
\n0
\n8.10
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n6.2
\n6
\n6
\n6
\n1
\n5
\n4<\/p>\n

Sousa
\n0
\n0
\n8.10
\n5
\n0
\n0
\n3.1
\n3
\n3
\n3
\n0
\n5
\n4<\/p>\n

Salazar
\n0
\n0
\n9.00
\n1
\n0
\n0
\n1
\n1
\n1
\n1
\n1
\n0
\n0<\/p>\n

Alexander
\n1
\n1
\n9.33
\n4
\n2
\n0
\n18.1
\n21
\n19
\n19
\n4
\n8
\n14<\/p>\n

Javier
\n0
\n1
\n10.22
\n5
\n3
\n0
\n12.1
\n16
\n14
\n14
\n3
\n12
\n8<\/p>\n

Gordon
\n0
\n0
\n11.57
\n4
\n1
\n0
\n9.1
\n21
\n12
\n12
\n6
\n3
\n11<\/p>\n

Mu\u00f1oz
\n0
\n0
\n15.75
\n3
\n0
\n0
\n4
\n7
\n7
\n7
\n3
\n6
\n6<\/p>\n

Taking a career overseas can resemble being cast off, but one thing Lambert valued about his season in NPB was the latitude to pitch. He made 23 starts for the Yakult Swallows and threw 124 \u2153 innings, his most in a professional season since 2019, after trying years as a swingman in Colorado.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

It perhaps helped him navigate outings like Saturday\u2019s. Lambert threw 107 pitches, his most in a major-league outing. His final pitch, a 94.5 mph fastball to Burger, equaled the fastest he threw all night. His line\u00a0\u2014 three hits allowed, one walk, seven strikeouts\u00a0\u2014 suggested ability to sustain pitch execution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one thing about Peter that he does extremely well, he attacks, he doesn\u2019t run away from contact,\u201d Espada said. \u201cHe is confident with his stuff, he\u2019s in the zone. He\u2019s got that bulldog mentality, and that\u2019s why he\u2019s able to grind through six innings and get big outs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Astros need such stability for a rotation in some flux. Before Friday, when Hunter Brown navigated six innings against Texas despite battling his four-seamer<\/a>, their starters had failed to work five innings in five of their last seven games, brevity that will tax a bullpen when repeated.<\/p>\n

Cristian Javier will start Sunday\u2019s series finale before the All-Star break, meanwhile, taking the mound amid question of how much length he can provide \u2014 and how effective he will be \u2014 after being stowed in the bullpen<\/a> for a week upon his return from a shoulder strain.<\/p>\n

With a quality start, Lambert afforded most of Houston\u2019s bullpen some rest ahead of Sunday\u2019s finale, in which\u00a0Espada could manage aggressively with his club facing an opportunity to pull within one game of the first-place Rangers before the break.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Enyel De Los Santos threw one inning Saturday and AJ Blubaugh the final two. Closer Josh\u00a0Hader, jarringly, did start to warm in the ninth with a six-run lead and traffic on the bases. But Blubaugh prevented his entry by striking out his final two batters, capping what Lambert had started.<\/p>\n

That Lambert would last six innings was not always evident. He needed 52 pitches to notch his first nine outs. A six-run lead after the third afforded him more freedom to attack the zone, which he did largely without damage. Texas hitters averaged an 84.3 mph exit velocity on 16 balls put in play against him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we mixed really well,\u201d said Lambert, who credited V\u00e1zquez with creating an effective game plan. \u201cWe just had a quality mix going, moving in and out, speeding them up and slowing them down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ezequiel Duran won a nine-pitch at-bat with a home run in the fourth, part of a 23-pitch inning. A seven-pitch fifth bought Lambert another. Wyatt Langford opened it with a single. Lambert struck out his final three hitters on 20 total pitches. That he got the chance underscored the trust he has commanded.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think his stuff today was down under (the zone) enough where he wasn\u2019t getting any fly balls, there were no balls being hit that threatened, that I saw, that his stuff wasn\u2019t on,\u201d Espada said. \u201cHim and Vazquez were in sync. Pitch count got up in the fourth. But aside from that, man, he was on. \u2026 That was just a very strong performance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manager Joe\u00a0Espada’s faith in Peter Lambert showed during a battle in the middle innings Saturday as the\u00a0Astros right-hander…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151],"class_list":["post-370075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}