When right-hander Peter Lambert was told he wasn’t going to make the Astros’ Opening Day roster following a good spring showing, he was granted his release to pursue other opportunities. There were a few “internal talks” about signing with other teams, but he chose to re-sign with Houston on another Minor League deal three days later. “I’m sure glad I stayed,” he said. So are the Astros, who brought Lambert up from Triple-A Sugar Land in mid-April and have watched him become a rotation lynchpin. He allowed one run and two hits in a career-high-tying seven innings to lead the Astros to their second consecutive win over the Tigers, 4-2, on Wednesday at Daikin Park. Lambert is second on the Astros behind Mike Burrows with 64 innings pitched, and his 11 starts are tied with Spencer Arrighetti for second most on the club (behind Burrows, who has been moved to the bullpen). Lambert is 4-0 with a 2.83 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and .212 opponents’ batting average in his past five starts. “That’s two straight outings for him with no walks,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “He pounded the zone, mixed all his pitches and kept a pretty good lineup off balance. I don’t think they even had a runner in scoring position. Strong performance. That was really awesome to watch, and then our bullpen came in closing the door.”
