Nobody had taken Shohei Ohtani deep all season. Christian Walker changed that in the second inning Tuesday night. Braden Shewmake followed him an inning later. Two swings. Two runs. As it turned out, that was plenty.
The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 at Daikin Park, evening the three-game series behind seven scoreless innings from Peter Lambert and a pair of solo home runs off the most unhittable pitcher on the planet. Walker’s blast—a 395-foot shot onto the train tracks beyond the Crawford Boxes off a 97.7 mph fastball—was the first home run allowed by Ohtani in six starts this season, ending a streak of 122 consecutive batters faced without surrendering one. Shewmake, pressed into the lineup after Carlos Correa was scratched with a left ankle injury about an hour before first pitch, went the other way to the Crawford Boxes in the third for his second homer of the season.
Ohtani struck out eight and allowed just four hits over seven innings, but two of them cleared the wall. Lambert matched him zero for zero, scattering three hits, navigating four walks, and retiring the side in order three times through one of the most dangerous lineups in baseball. He threw a career-high 104 pitches.
The roster math behind Tuesday’s win is staggering. The club entered the game with 13 players on the IL, including shortstop Jeremy Peña, ace Hunter Brown, closer Josh Hader, starters Cristian Javier and Tatsuya Imai, and center fielder Jake Meyers. Catcher Yainer Diaz had been added earlier in the day with a left oblique strain. When Correa was scratched about an hour before first pitch, Nick Allen, just reinstated from the IL, shifted from third base to shortstop. Isaac Paredes moved to first base, freeing Walker for a designated hitter start. That shuffle opened a spot at third for Shewmake, who had started just twice since being acquired in a minor-league trade with the New York Yankees last month. It was his 11th at-bat as an Astro. He made it count.
The Astros are running out of bodies. Tuesday night, the ones they had left were enough.
“That was a big win for this team,” Espada said.
Bryan King came on for the final two innings, allowing an RBI single to Kyle Tucker in the eighth before closing it out for his third save. Lambert, who began the season at Triple-A and re-signed on a minor-league deal after requesting his release, improved to 2-2 with a 2.42 ERA. He pitched last season in Japan’s NPB, and his translator there had already texted him by the time he spoke to reporters.
“I just feel really good right now and in a good spot and just trying to keep it going,” Lambert said.
The Astros will look to take the series Wednesday afternoon when Lance McCullers Jr. faces Tyler Glasnow in the rubber match.
Heading to Daikin Park soon? Check the Astros promotions schedule before your next game.
