"He's still been very serviceable"- Gavin Stone's season not defined by 5-0 Astros loss, per Dodgers insider

MLB analyst Doug McKain placed his trust in Gavin Stone to continue to be an important piece for the Los Angeles Dodgers, despite last night's loss against the Houston Astros. Stone had one of his toughest outings of the season at Minute Maid Park, allowing four earned runs, nine hits and two walks while managing only three strikeouts over six innings pitched.

On a night when the usually explosive Shohei Ohtani & Co. got shut out, McKain talked about how he believes that yesterday's game was only going to be a minor blip on Gavin's radar, who is otherwise enjoying a fruitful season in Los Angeles.

"He's still been very serviceable, he's gone out there and gutted out innings for this team. For the most part, as a whole, he's really been a major plus for this team in his true rookie season," McKain said on a stream via the Dodgers Nation YouTube channel.

(Timestamps: 3:33 and 7:19)

Yesterday's game was a deviation from the norm for Stone, who has otherwise enjoyed a solid run of form. The right-hander has gone 9-4, posting a 3.34 ERA and striking out a total of 82 batters across 19 pitching appearances.

"He [Stone] has been solid, he's been rock solid, and his performance tonight I don't think reflects the entire year. It's not like he got rocked, 4 runs [given up] in 6 innings, that's not awful by any stretch," Mckain added.

Gavin Stone reflects on his outing; Dodgers lose opener against Astros

After a scoreless first inning, Stone gave up a run as the Astros took the lead off a Joey Loperfido line drive to left field. Eventual blasts out of the park from Alex Bregman and Jon Singleton took the game away from the Dodgers.

After the game, Stone reflected on mistakes made during the game, which ultimately proved to be the difference between the sides.

"There are some opportunities where you just have to make better pitches. That’s pretty much it, just making better pitches in certain situations. I just left two pitches over the plate, and they put good swings on it." Gavin said

When asked if he thinks the league is adjusting to him after an initial period of uncertainty that sometimes works to a rookie's advantage, Stone agreed.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Chicago White Sox (source: Getty)

For manager Dave Roberts, Stone's good work on the mound has come at just the right time. With Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller all facing lengthy stints on the injured list, quality starters are the need of the hour.

The Dodgers faithful will be hoping Stone can put this outing behind him.