(Photo credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images)

For the third time in his six starts on the mound this season, and a second consecutive start, Dodgers right-hander Shohei Ohtani did not serve as the designated hitter atop the batting order.

Before the start of the three-game interleague series with the Houston Astros, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts indicated that Ohtani would hit while also pitching on Tuesday. Instead, Ohtani focused squarely on his mound work, allowing two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts over seven innings in a 2-1 loss, the Dodgers' fifth in their last seven games.

Ohtani has scuffled at the plate recently, going 0-for-15 with three walks and an RBI on the Dodgers' road trip. The club has displayed a willingness to halve his duties in the near term so that Ohtani can regain his stride at the plate, hopeful that a lighter workload will work wonders.

'I do think that we're going to be able to manage it and navigate it,' Roberts said. 'I do feel like we've shown by sitting him a couple times already on days that he pitches that we're trying to manage the workload. It's doable.

'But the bottom line is there's no other alternative. He's going to DH a lot, he's going to pitch a lot. How best we preserve him and keep him strong and healthy is the question.'

Right-hander Tyler Glasnow (3-0, 2.56 ERA) has the starting assignment for Los Angeles on Wednesday in the rubber game of the three-game set. He did not factor into the decision of a 3-2 loss to the Miami Marlins on April 29 after allowing two runs on three hits and a career-high-tying six walks with nine strikeouts over a season-low 5 2/3 innings. Glasnow had allowed one run in 15 innings over his previous two starts.

Glasnow has faced the Astros once. He allowed one run on six hits and one walk with four strikeouts over five innings on March 30, 2019, in a 3-1 victory with the Tampa Bay Rays.

Right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. (2-2, 6.32) is scheduled to start for the Astros, who have won three of their last four games. He recorded his second quality start of the season last Thursday in an 11-5 road win over the Baltimore Orioles, giving up three runs on two hits and four walks with a season-high-tying nine strikeouts over six innings. He was 0-2 with an 8.84 ERA in his previous four starts, all Astros losses.

McCullers is 2-0 with a 1.14 ERA in four career starts against the Dodgers. He limited the Dodgers to one run on four hits and four walks with four strikeouts over six innings in an 18-1 road victory on July 4, 2025.

After using five pitchers in each of the previous two games, the Astros recalled right-hander Jason Alexander from Triple-A Sugar Land on Tuesday in the event they needed length behind starter Peter Lambert, who recorded only 13 outs in his previous start at Baltimore last week.

As it turned out, the Astros didn't need Alexander or Enyel De Los Santos, who, along with Bryan King, were the only relievers available on Tuesday. Lambert matched his career high of seven innings, and King covered the final six outs to preserve a weary bullpen for Wednesday.

'He knew exactly what we needed, and we couldn't ask for a better performance,' Astros manager Joe Espada said of Lambert. 'That was pure grit right there.

'Bryan got all six outs by himself. That was a big win for this team.'

--Field Level Media