MLB LOOK AHEAD

Cubs get second crack at Rockies’ Lambert

Field Level Media

June 11, 2019 at 9:01 am.

Jun 6, 2019; Chicago, IL, USA; Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Peter Lambert (23) pitches during the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Photo Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports

Jun 6, 2019; Chicago, IL, USA; Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Peter Lambert (23) pitches during the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Photo Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports

Peter Lambert made an impressive major league debut in one of the toughest ballparks for a pitcher. His second big-league start comes against the same team in an even tougher place for a starter.

Lambert, the 22-year-old Colorado Rockies right-hander who tamed the Chicago Cubs on Thursday at Wrigley Field, will try to stifle the same lineup when the teams meet Tuesday night at Coors Field.

Lambert will go against Chicago left-hander Jose Quintana in a rematch of Colorado’s win last week. The 3-1 victory helped the Rockies salvage the finale of a three-game series. Lambert can give Colorado two straight wins after its 6-5 victory Monday night.

It’ll be hard to top what he did in Chicago, though, when he struck out nine in seven innings and added a single. He allowed one run on four hits and one walk.

“That’s what I thought up in my head of what the outcome of his debut was going to be,” Colorado second baseman Brendan Rodgers, who came up with Lambert through the minors as part of the 2015 draft class, told the Denver Post last week. “It gave me chills watching him get out of some of those jams. That’s what he does — he grinds, he attacks hitters and he gets soft outs.”

Lambert (1-0, 1.29 ERA) faces a Cubs team that was rolling before the Monday defeat. After taking two out of three from Colorado last week, Chicago swept a weekend series from St. Louis, a week after the Cardinals swept the Cubs in St. Louis.

The Cubs hope Quintana (4-5, 3.77 ERA) can pitch Tuesday as he did in last week’s loss to the Rockies. He went 7 1/3 innings and gave up just three runs.

Tuesday’s start will be the fifth of his career against Colorado. He is 2-1 with a 4.32 ERA all-time against the Rockies, with both wins coming at Coors Field, where he is unbeaten in three starts.

The game will mark day two of the return of Carlos Gonzalez to Colorado. The Chicago outfielder got a warm ovation Monday from the Coors Field fans for his 10 seasons with the team. Gonzalez said before the game it was strange to be in Denver and sitting in the visitor’s clubhouse, but that he was thankful for the opportunity with the Cubs after being released by Cleveland last month.

The Cubs signed him on June 1.

“I was just thankful because (the Indians) did everything they could to get myself ready to play big-league games,” Gonzalez, who batted .210 in 30 games with the Indians, recently told the Des Moines Register. “It didn’t work, but sometimes, that’s how it works in life — you just have to move on.”

“After that, I was just waiting at home seeing if there was going to be another chance. An opportunity showed up with the Cubs, and I continue to grind every day, work hard every day. I know there’s going to be ups and downs, but at the end of the day, it’s about competing and fighting with your teammates, trying to win games every night.”

Gonzalez went 0-for-3 on Monday, leaving him 4-for-19 (.211) with a homer and three RBIs for the Cubs.

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