Peter Lambert allowed four hits over seven innings and struck out nine, helping the Colorado Rockies beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1 on Thursday.
Lambert retired 11 straight batters during a stretch before Kris Bryant doubled with one out in the sixth. Bryant scored on Javier Baez's two-out single.
Lambert (1-0) walked one and threw 63 of 95 pitches for strikes, ending his outing by striking out the side in the seventh. He set a Rockies record for strikeouts by a pitcher in his debut.
He also singled on his first pitch as a big league batter, using a two-tone bat to loop a fastball from Jose Quintana (4-5) to right-center field.
Jairo Diaz pitched a one-hit eighth and Scott Oberg threw a perfect ninth for this third save, completing a five-hitter.
Colorado rebounded after losing the first two games of the series. Chicago's NL Central lead was cut to a percentage point over second-place Milwaukee.
Quintana dropped to 0-4 in his last six starts, giving up three runs and six hits in 7 1/3 innings. He has not won since beating St. Louis on May 5.
Colorado took a 2-0 lead in the third when David Dahl hit an RBI single and scored on the first of Ian Desmond's two doubles. Chris Iannetta hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh after Desmond doubled and Bryant lost Mark Reynolds' fly in the sun, allowing the ball to drop for a double.