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          Dodgers Report

          Rapid Reaction: Astros 3, Dodgers 1

          • Mark Saxon, ESPN Staff WriterAug 22, 2015, 09:59 PM ET
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              Mark Saxon covers the St. Louis Cardinals for ESPN.com. He served as the Dodgers team reporter for ESPNLosAngeles.com. through the 2015 season. He spent six years at the Orange County Register, and began his career at the Oakland Tribune, where he started an 11-year journey covering Major League Baseball. He has also covered colleges, including USC football and UCLA basketball.
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          HOUSTON – The futility continued, this time without the fanfare.

          The Los Angeles Dodgers have fallen into one of their deepest hitting slumps of the season at an inconvenient time, with a pennant race beginning to heat up. A night after getting no-hit, they didn't generate much action in a 3-1 loss to the Houston Astros Saturday night.

          The Dodgers have lost four games in a row for the second time this season.

          How it happened: Coming off Mike Fiers’ no-hitter from Friday, the Dodgers went the first three innings without getting a runner on base against Scott Kazmir. Jimmy Rollins finally ended that by ripping a line drive into left-center field leading off the fourth, but he was thrown out by Colby Rasmus when he tried to stretch it into a double. Their only run came after a Rollins double -- the 500th of his career -- in the sixth inning and a Justin Turner RBI single.

          Zack Greinke (13-3), meanwhile, was awfully good, but not great. The way the Dodgers' offense is going, he needed to be great to win. Jose Altuve, perhaps the best pound-for-pound player in the game, had a leadoff triple that led to a run and a solo home run off Greinke. Luis Valbuena also took Greinke deep. Those were the only three hits he gave up. He walked none and struck out five. It was the first time Greinke had given up two homers in a game in 363 days. The New York Mets hit two off him on Aug. 24, 2014.

          What it means: Despite their poor play, the Dodgers are clinging to first place. The San Francisco Giants lost 3-2 in Pittsburgh, so the Dodgers’ lead remains 1½ games.

          Notable: After missing two games with a tight right hamstring, Yasiel Puig returned to the lineup and looked healthy. He had an infield single, a sharp one-hopper that Carlos Correa dropped. It originally was ruled an error, but the official scorer changed it to a hit after lobbying from Dodgers publicist Jon Chapper. … Chase Utley’s first hit as a Dodger went for extra bases, but not as many as he originally thought. The ball bounced on the warning track and hit the right-field foul pole and kicked over Jake Marisnick’s head, allowing Utley to reach third. After a replay review, Utley had to retreat to second base with a double, as the pole is, by rule, out of play. ... Turner has been in a bit of a rut, both offensively and defensively. He dropped a Correa grounder in the first inning. Had he fielded it cleanly, he would have had a shot to throw out Altuve at the plate.

          Up next: The series concludes Sunday at 2:10 p.m. ET. Clayton Kershaw (10-6, 2.34 ERA) tries to snap the Dodgers' losing streak. He’ll be opposed by young hard-thrower Lance McCullers (5-4, 3.17 ERA).