A night after one of the wildest games of the season, the Houston Astros got exactly what they needed: a pitcher who kept the ball out of the seats, a couple of guys who put it in the seats, and a bullpen that slammed the door. Peter Lambert held the Tampa Bay Rays scoreless into the sixth, Christian Walker and Isaac Paredes each homered, and Houston walked away with a 2-0 win and a series victory over the AL’s best team.
The Astros are 45-47. They head to Washington on Monday with a week left before the All-Star break and some genuine momentum.
Lambert was composed against a lineup that had battered Hunter Brown for seven runs 24 hours earlier. He worked through 5⅔ innings on 90 pitches, stranding runners when he needed to and letting his defense do the rest. When Caminero popped out in the sixth with a runner at second, Espada called on Okert, who got the flyout to end the threat. It was that kind of afternoon—quiet, efficient, professional.
Walker broke it open in the fourth with a solo shot to right, his 20th of the season—a number he didn’t reach until August 28 last year. Paredes followed in the sixth with his 12th, and that was the ballgame. The Rays went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base against a staff that held them to four hits.
Okert, Bryan King, and Josh Hader finished what Lambert started. Hader walked Caminero to open the ninth before retiring the next three in order for his ninth save. The shutout was Houston’s seventh of the season.
The Astros open a three-game series in Washington on Monday, with Mike Burrows starting against Miles Mikolas.
