Dodgers’ decimated lineup blanked in loss to Astros – Orange County Register

HOUSTON — Math is hard.

The Dodgers continue to cut players. A team that has been without Max Muncy since May 16 and Mookie Betts since June 17 lost Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor earlier this week and was further reduced Friday when Freddie Freeman left the team to be with family during his son’s illness.

The players left on the field didn’t offer much resistance to Houston Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez on Friday night. He held them to four hits and struck out 10 while pitching a shutout into the seventh inning as the Astros beat the Dodgers, 5-0, in the opener of their three-game weekend series at Minute Maid Park.

“It’s a challenge,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of the win with a depleted lineup that struck out 15 times. “Framber was good tonight, so we knew it was going to be a big challenge to try to put innings together and build innings.

“But yeah, you’ve got the guys you’ve got, and you’ve got to believe they’ll find a way to score points.”

Shohei Ohtani led off the game with a double, rushing to second base even though center fielder Jake Meyers chopped the ball to left-center field.

The next 16 Dodgers were struck out in order against Valdez, half of them on strikeouts (including six in a row at one point).

Gavin Lux ended the series with a one-out single in the sixth inning and Valdez loaded the bases by walking Ohtani and Will Smith. But he struck out Teoscar Hernandez and got Andy Pages to end the threat.

Valdez left the field with runners on the corners and one out in the seventh inning. Nick Ahmed was grounded out by Astros reliever Bryan Abreu and the Dodgers had their only run removed in a review of the rally.

Bregman hit Lux’s ground ball near second base, but Kiké Hernandez rounded the base too far and Bregman tagged him to end the inning. Miguel Vargas was initially ruled to have scored from third base before the out was recorded. But even that treat was spoiled for the Dodgers when the Astros challenged the play and a review ruled Vargas didn’t get home in time.

“It was one of those situations where I think he felt Bregman had left third base open, so he maybe thought there was going to be a play at first base, and then you realize he still had the ball, and Peña was there at third base,” Roberts said. “So we ended up in no man’s land, and Vargy didn’t run across the plate to score that run.

“He was watching the play. It’s something he won’t do again, because we talked about it.”

While positive results can be expected from a depleted Dodgers lineup, Gavin Stone’s regression in July is concerning given his reliability throughout the season in a rotation that has had its own drain.

Stone allowed nine hits in six innings, including home runs to Alex Bregman (a solo homer in the third) and Jon Singleton (a two-run homer in the fourth).

Stone finished June with a complete-game no-knockout performance against the White Sox and a legitimate spot on the National League All-Star team with a 9-2 record and a 2.73 ERA. Batters had hit .227 with six home runs in 15 starts against Stone, who pitched at least five innings in 13 of those starts, seven times or more.

July has been different for Stone. He has a 6.27 ERA in four starts this month and hitters are hitting .369 against him with five home runs in just 18⅔ innings.

“I feel good. … Just good compositions,” Stone said of his July regression.