The Launch Angle

So, who had Peter Lambert outdueling Shohei Ohtani on their bingo card? Anyone?

I don’t think it’s a stretch to suggest that this might be the win of the season for the Astros, at least up to now. There is a lot of baseball left, so I don’t want to get ahead of myself. There might be another game, or several, that outshine this one. But Tuesday’s 2-1 win over the Dodgers was a very good one and definitely this team’s signature victory through early May.

By the final pitching line, Lambert had a better game where it mattered most: Runs allowed, his zero to Ohtani’s two. That was the difference in this game. Make no mistake, Ohtani was more dynamic on the mound, with a 38% CSW% compared to Lambert’s 17% CSW%. Ohtani walked none and struck out eight in seven innings, while Lambert walked four and struck out four in seven innings. Only four baserunners for the Astros compared to seven for the Dodgers. But again, Lambert allowed zero runs while Ohtani allowed two. While it matters how a pitcher throws, the end result matters more. And that’s the blessing and curse of baseball.

As one could gather by the score, there wasn’t much going on with the bats. Both of Houston’s runs occurred via a solo home run, one in the second from Christian Walker and another in the third by *checks notes* Braden Shewmake. That’s baseball in its finest form.

As hinted at above, the Dodgers did have more traffic on the basepaths, but couldn’t convert until the eighth inning when Kyle Tucker’s two-out RBI single against Bryan King. Otherwise, it was a fairly quiet game for two of the better lineups in baseball.

Another benefit of Lambert’s start is that he pitched seven innings. Joe Espada elected to have King pitch both the eighth and the ninth innings. The majority of the pitching staff desperately needed a breather, and they got it. While obviously not a win in the traditional sense, it certainly felt like one.

Feature photo from Astros X account