Astros Manager Joe Espada Has Peter Lambert’s Back After Brutal Outing

The Houston Astros are getting cold at the wrong time. Dropping back-to-back series against AL West opponents, Houston welcomes in another divisional foe, the Athletics, with a 64-64 record, yet somehow it is enough to keep them in first place.

The Astros can't defend what happened in the series finale against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night, as almost everything that could go wrong went wrong. Starting pitcher Peter Lambert took the mound for his worst start of the season for the Astros, and it hit hard.

Lambert went 3.2 innings, allowing nine runs, eight hits, and two walks before he was removed and replaced by Bryan King, who didn't stop the bleeding either. For an Astros team that hasn't had consistent starting pitching, Lambert has been one of the best all year.

Joe Espada Defends Lambert

Following the 18-3 defeat, manager Joe Espada had to face reporters, with everyone wanting to know his thoughts on a tough series loss. Questions came up quickly about Lambert, but as any good manager should, Espada told the facts about Lambert while addressing his faults.

"He's been one of our best starters all year," Espada said in his postgame via MLB.com. "His pitches were not really creating the angle, the lane, where hitters were creating some off-balance swings."

Espada is right. In his first season with the Astros organization, Lambert holds a 3.86 ERA, an 8-7 record, 120 strikeouts and a 1.20 WHIP. August is the first month this season in which Lambert has an ERA above five, so he's doing all he can to keep Houston alive with the playoffs on the line.

Espada and his crew know that they can't change anything about the series with the Angels now, but they need to adjust to what went wrong and take new approaches into another divisional series.

"We control our own destiny. We have to get rid of this series and get ready to play tomorrow. Our guys are very much aware of what we need to do," Espada said. "When teams play us, we have that target on our back."

Luckily for Houston, the Athletics aren't playing the best baseball right now either, holding a 2-8 record over their last 10 games, as well as a four-game losing streak after being swept by the Kansas City Royals.

As for Lambert, his next start is slated for game two against the New York Yankees when the Astros hit the road.

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