We have a near-full slate of games this Thursday, with more than half of them as day games. The Mets and Pirates each won their second straight game, while the Rockies trotted out a rookie pitcher who held the Cubs to just one run in seven innings. All that and more below in our daily roundup. 

Oh, and for those who concern themselves with off-the-field happenings: the Braves reportedly agreed to terms with left-handed starter Dallas Keuchel. You can read more about -- including how much the Yankees were outbid by -- by clicking here.

Select games can be streamed regionally via fuboTV (Try for free). For more on what channel each game is on, click here.

Who wins every MLB game? And what underdogs can give you a huge victory tonight? Visit SportsLine now to see the exact score of every MLB game, plus get full player stat projections, all from the model that simulates every game 10,000 times.

Baseball schedule and scores for Thursday, June 6

Kepler homers three times; Twins avoid sweep

Entering Thursday's series finale, the Twins were in danger of being swept by Cleveland -- a less-than-ideal outcome, given Minnesota's huge division lead in the AL Central. That didn't happen -- not on Max Kepler's watch.

Kepler, who came into the game with 12 home runs and a 114 OPS+ on the season, blasted three home runs off Trevor Bauer. Take a look:

Kepler later added a fourth hit -- a single -- and also a walk,  boosting his seasonal line from .252/.324/.490 to .266/.337/.542. How's that for a jump?

It's worth noting that Kepler's career-high is 20 home runs, set last season across 156 games. He's already up to 15 in 54 games. It's probably fair to say he's going to have a new career-high before the end of the year -- especially, it seems, if he keeps facing Bauer.

Rockies' Lambert shines in MLB debut at Wrigley

The Rockies top pitching prospect Peter Lambert made his MLB debut on Thursday. In seven innings, Lambert finished with nine strikeouts against the Cubs, a Rockies record for strikeouts in a debut. Lambert took the place of Kyle Freeland, who finished fourth in the NL Cy Young voting last season. Freeland was sent down to Triple-A last week after struggling through his first 12 starts.

Not only was Lambert good on the mound on Thursday, he even got a hit with a single in his first major-league at-bat in the third inning off Cubs' starter Jose Quintana. Here's Lambert's final line:

player headshot
Peter Lambert
COL • SP • #20
IP7.0
H4
ER1
BB1
K9
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Lambert, 22, was Colorado's second-round draft pick in 2015. While pitching for Triple-A Albuquerque, Lambert recorded a 2-2 record and 5.07 ERA in 11 starts. In his last three minor league starts, Lambert had 20 strikeouts against just one walk. 

Thanks to Lambert's strong debut, the Rockies (32-29) avoided getting swept by the Cubs (34-27).

Archer notches quality start against Braves as Pirates win series

It hasn't been a full year since the Pirates acquired Chris Archer from the Rays, but we all know how poorly that trade has worked out for Pittsburgh. Need more evidence? Consider that Archer threw a quality start on Thursday, in a rubber game victory against the Braves -- and it was a cause for celebration.

Archer permitted six hits, two walks and a run across six innings of work while fanning six batters. Believe it or not, the outing marked his second quality start of the season -- and his first since April 13. In his six starts in between, he'd yielded 33 hits and 28 runs in 29 innings. Ouch.

The Pirates' victory gave them the series win over the Braves -- their first series victory since mid-May.

Stat of the day: d'Arnaud lifts Rays

The Rays defeated the lowly Tigers by a 6-1 final on Thursday afternoon, and it was thanks to an unlikely contributor: backup catcher Travis d'Arnaud.

d'Arnaud entered Thursday 10 for 67 on the season with two extra-base hits. Naturally, he went off against, collecting two hits -- both home runs -- and driving in four runs. He also walked.

Anyway, here's your stat of the day: prior to Thursday's two-homer game, d'Arnaud hadn't jumped the yard since March 31, 2018. Maybe what they say is true about them coming in bunches.

Highlight of the day: Moustakas has another two-homer game

On Thursday, for the second time in a month, Brewers second baseman Mike Moustakas had himself a multi-homer game.

Whereas Moustakas terrorized the Pirates back on May 30, this time he jumped the fence twice against the Marlins. Take a look:

Moustakas is now up to 18 home runs on the year. Remember: he signed a one-year deal during the offseason. We can think of some teams who probably wish they could get a mulligan on passing on him.

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