(Photo credit: Peter Aiken-Imagn Images)

Shohei Ohtani's ramp up toward becoming a full-fledged starting pitcher will continue Saturday when the right-hander takes the mound against the visiting Houston Astros on his 31st birthday.

It will be Ohtani's fourth start since he returned to the mound last month following elbow surgery in 2023, albeit in short spurts. He is expected to go two innings Saturday, just as he did last Saturday against the Kansas City Royals when he threw 27 pitches, with one of them registering 101.7 mph.

Ohtani (0-0, 2.25 ERA) went one inning in each of his first two starts, with the Dodgers more than willing to continue the slow progression. It's October when they hope their two-way star will be a regular starter capable of at least five innings -- and preferably more -- each time he pitches.

'I felt pretty good about being able to come back and pitch well,' Ohtani said through an interpreter. ' ... Talking to the doctor, he was very confident that I would be able to come back in full form. I do still feel like I have to work on little things on the pitching side in terms of mechanically. So in terms of that, it's still a work in progress.'

Ohtani has plenty of familiarity with the Astros from the mound after his days in the American League West with the Los Angeles Angels. In 13 career starts against Houston, he is 3-6 with a 4.01 ERA, the worst of any team he has started against at least three times.

He will have his hands full against an Astros offense that had five home runs and 11 total extra-base hits in an 18-1 rout of the Dodgers in the series opener Friday.

The lone run for Los Angels came on a Will Smith home run.

Isaac Paredes hit a home run for Houston on the first pitch of the game, while Jose Altuve hit a pair of homers. Christian Walker also hit a home run and has now gone deep in six consecutive games at Dodger Stadium, with eight total homers in the stretch.

Victor Caratini hit a grand slam in a 10-run sixth inning for Houston as Los Angeles absorbed its largest margin of defeat in Dodger Stadium history.

The Astros will counter Ohtani on the mound Saturday with left-hander Framber Valdez (9-4, 2.72 ERA). Valdez delivered his second consecutive scoreless outing when he went six innings at home against the Chicago Cubs in a 2-0 win on Sunday.

The Astros have earned a victory in each of Valdez's last 10 starts. Personally, Valdez has gone 8-0 in the stretch with a 1.72 ERA.

In three career starts against the Dodgers, Valdez is 1-1 with a 4.60 ERA. In his most recent outing against them, he went 6 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the 5-0 win against the club on July 26, 2024.

'It doesn't matter for me if we win or lose the day before,' Valdez told reporters. 'For me, it's about going out there and it's a new day. It's competing, focusing and just acting like a winner out there.'

--Field Level Media