Peter Lambert was so close to starting August on a note worthy of his July.
As he returned to the dugout in the fifth inning, he had conceded one run to the fearsome Padres lineup. But the bases he left loaded behind him posed a lingering threat to the Rockies, and to Lambert’s final stat line. Tommy Doyle was charged with facing Fernando Tatis Jr. and Juan Soto with one out.
Doyle did a reasonable job with the first challenge, inducing a run-scoring groundout. Looking on, Lambert didn’t get so lucky a result from MLB’s perennial on-base king.