Shohei Ohtani strikes out side on birthday but Dodgers fall to Astros ...Middle East

LOS ANGELES – They might not hand out MVP awards in early July, although they certainly can peek at resumes and nobody carries the sparkling credentials of Shohei Ohtani.

The season is not even at the All-Star break, but nobody in either league can boast at least 30 home runs while striking out all three batters in one inning against one of the top teams in the major leagues.

And doing it on your 31st birthday? Only a three-time MVP winner in Ohtani can juggle so many engagements at one time.

As far as the race in the standings goes, the Dodgers could use more innings from Ohtani on a per-game basis. In his fourth start of the season, he allowed one hit and no runs over his scheduled two innings before the Houston Astros rallied for a 6-4 victory.

Ohtani was serenaded by organist Dieter Ruehle to the notes of “Happy Birthday,” as he left the mound following the top of the second inning when he struck out Christian Walker, Victor Caratini and Yainer Diaz.

The Astros had a far more discerning eye against left-hander Justin Wrobleski, immediately rebounding with a four-run third inning. Diaz then tagged Wrobleski for a home run in the fourth.

After a pair of one-inning starts in his return to the mound last month, Ohtani’s workload was increased to two innings last Saturday against the Kansas City Royals when he gave up one hit in two scoreless innings on 27 pitches.

Ohtani’s one hit over two scoreless innings on Saturday was done on 31 pitches.

One more Ohtani start before the All-Star break of two, and possibly three innings, is expected to come next weekend amid the chaos of a Dodgers-Giants series at San Francisco.

The Dodgers seemed keen on revenge for an 18-1 disaster of a performance Thursday against the Astros that was the largest margin of defeat in Dodger Stadium history.

Mookie Betts hit a first-inning home run for a 1-0 lead, that was just his second in the past 22 games but both have come in the past three days. In the second inning, No. 9 hitter Miguel Rojas stole an RBI chance away from Ohtani in the leadoff spot when his RBI single made it 2-0.

The Astros’ four-run third included a two-run double from Zack Short, and RBI singles from Cam Smith and Christian Walker. The three-run inning matched the total given up by Wrobleski in his last three starts combined (16 innings).

Diaz’s home run in the fourth made it 5-2 with Rojas pulling the Dodgers within a run on a two-run home run off the top of the wall in left-center. Rojas thought he walked on a 3-1 pitch that was called a strike. He then called timeout and stepped back into the batter’s box to hit his fourth of the season.

The Dodgers appeared to be in business in the seventh inning when Betts opened with a hit that skipped Astros left fielder Cooper Hummell. Betts was thrown out trying to advance to third base on the play.

A half inning later, the Astros padded their lead to two runs when Victor Caratini delivered a sacrifice fly that Kiké Hernandez tracked down on the warning track at full speed.

Wrobleski (4-3) gave up five runs (four earned) over 4⅔ innings with one walk and six strikeouts. The four earned runs matched his combined total over his previous four outings (20⅓ innings).

In his second career appearance, and first, since he hit the San Diego Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr. with a pitch to cause a bench-clearing incident in his big league debut, Dodgers rookie right-hander Jack Little retired the side in order in the ninth inning.

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