Lambert makes MLB debut memorable with win over Cubs
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Peter Lambert’s major league debut exceeded even his own expectations.
Lambert allowed four hits over seven innings and struck out nine, helping the Colorado Rockies beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1 on Thursday.
“What a great day,” Lambert said. “Wrigley Field. It was awesome. The atmosphere. The fans. it was crazy out there. I thought I would go out there and feel the heart pumping, but I was all right.”
A 22-year-old right-hander selected in the second round with the 44th overall pick of the 2015 amateur draft, Lambert retired 11 straight batters during a stretch before Kris Bryant doubled with one-out in the sixth. Bryant scored on Javier Baez’s two-out single.
Lambert (1-0) walked one and threw 63 of 95 pitches for strikes, ending his outing by striking out the side in the seventh. He set a Rockies record for strikeouts by a pitcher in his debut.
He also singled on his first pitch as a big league batter, using a two-tone bat to loop a fastball from Jose Quintana (4-5) to right-center field.
“He’s a good athlete, even when he swings the bat — if you really watch his mechanics are outstanding,” Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. “He was able to take the game he’s been pitching in Triple-A and bring to the big leagues.”
Lambert, from San Dimas, California, pitched with family looking on — including brother Jimmy, a 24-year-old right-hander with Double-A Birmingham in the Chicago White Sox organization. He is on the seven-day injured list,
“They’re my support system,” Lambert said. “So I was super glad they were all able to make it out.”
Lambert, 2-2 with a 5.07 ERA in 11 starts this season at Triple-A Albuquerque, was called up before the game.
“He threw great the whole game,” Rockies manager Bud Black said. “Each inning, pitches were down. He wasn’t stressed in any one inning. “He maintained his delivery. Maintained his fastball. Fastball, change, breaking ball, combo, behind the count changeup, high fastballs, fastballs down and away at the knees. That was great.”
Black, in his 12th season as big league manager following 15 as a player, maintained it was one of the best debuts he has viewed.
“I’ve seen a lot of them both as a teammate, pitching coach and manager, but that was fun,” Black said. “I was happy for him. What an impressive outing — stayed calm.”
Jairo Diaz pitched a one-hit eighth and Scott Oberg threw a perfect ninth for this third save, completing a five-hitter.
Milwaukee 5, Miami 1: Christian Yelich hit his major league-leading 23rd home run and Mike Moustakas added two homers to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 5-1 win over the Miami Marlins.
The Brewers salvaged the final game of the three-game series after getting outscored a combined 24-3 in the first two games.
St. Louis 3, Cincinnati 1: Paul DeJong homered and St. Louis tied its season high with four stolen bases in a 3-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds to complete a successful homestand that cut the Cardinals’ NL Central deficit.
DeJong hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer off Michael Lorenzen (0-1) in the seventh inning, DeJong’s ninth home run this season and first since May 18. He had been is a 3-for-43 slide with no extra-base hits. Matt Carpenter, Kolten Wong, Marcel Ozuna and Dexter Fowler swiped bases for the Cardinals.
Boston 7, Kansas City 5: Mookie Betts hit a two-run homer off Danny Duffy in a four-run third inning and the Boston Red Sox defeated the Kansas City Royals 7-5 to complete their first series sweep in nearly a month.
Boston outscored the Royals 23-8 over three games and swept a series for just the fourth time this year, the first since May 10-12 against the Chicago White Sox. The World Series champions are 27-16 following a 6-13 start. Betts is 7 for 11 with five home runs against Duffy.
Tampa Bay 6, Detroit 1: Travis d’Arnaud homered for the first time in over 14 months, going deep twice for the Tampa Bay Rays in a 6-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers. D’Arnaud, who missed all but four games in 2018 due to Tommy John surgery, hit two-run shots in the fourth and eighth innings.