Short-handed Dodgers may be forced to make roster moves after Astros sweep

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts could do little to counteract Houston Astros left-handers Bennett Sousa and Bryan King in the seventh and eighth innings of Sunday’s 5-1 loss.

Three of Roberts’ four right-handed hitting reserves — Teoscar Hernandez, Kike Hernandez and switch-hitter Tommy Edman — were unavailable because of minor injuries, which could force the Dodgers to make a roster move to bolster their bench depth before Monday night’s series opener at Milwaukee.

That forced left fielder Michael Conforto, second baseman Hyeseong Kim and catcher Dalton Rushing, all lefties, to bat against Sousa and King, who threw scoreless innings to help the Astros sweep a three-game series in Dodger Stadium for the first time since 2008.

“Today, we had one player available, and that was the catcher,” Roberts said, referring to All-Star starter Will Smith, who is healthy but was given the day off. “That’s not a good feeling.”

Teoscar Hernández, who is batting .257 with a .758 OPS, 14 homers and 54 RBIs, fouled a ball off his left foot Saturday night. A scan of the foot was negative, but he was too sore to play Sunday and will be reevaluated on Monday.

Edman, who is batting .239 with a .718 OPS, 10 homers and 38 RBIs, fractured his toe when he fouled a ball off his right foot on Saturday, but Roberts said the utility player should be able to play through the injury.

“It’s kind of per his (pain) tolerance,” Roberts said, “so I don’t see an (injured list) situation.”

Kiké Hernández, a utility player who is batting .195 with eight homers and 22 RBIs in 71 games, has been playing with left-elbow discomfort for about a month and seems the most likely of the three to go in the injured list Monday or Tuesday.

“It doesn’t affect the defense, but his swing has been compromised — yesterday (Saturday), it came to a head as far as swinging, and so we stayed away from him today (Sunday),” Roberts said. “So with these three guys, we’re trying to figure out where we’re at.”

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