HOUSTON -- With the Astros still in talks with other clubs to try to acquire a starting pitcher prior to Tuesday’s Trade Deadline, rookie right-hander Spencer Arrighetti made his case to remain a part of the rotation by delivering a quality start Sunday afternoon against the Dodgers, only to be outdueled by fellow rookie River Ryan.

Arrighetti gave up three runs on four hits in six innings in the Astros’ 6-2 loss to the Dodgers at Minute Maid Park, snapping Houston’s three-game winning streak and dropping it back into a virtual tie with the Mariners atop the American League West. Ryan held Houston to one run in 5 2/3 innings in his second career start.

Arrighetti retired 13 of the first 15 Dodgers he faced, including Shohei Ohtani twice, before giving up homers to James Outman in the fifth and Gavin Lux in the sixth. He fell to 4-9 with a 5.58 ERA in his first 19 Major League starts, while the Astros went 0-5 in Arrighetti’s five July starts.

"Obviously, a full stadium on a Sunday against the Dodgers, I was going to be a little bit fired up, but I was glad [the fastball] was coming out well,” said Arrighetti, who recorded his 100th career strikeout in the second inning. “Taking two out of three from them was huge."

Houston will send another rookie -- right-hander Jake Bloss (6.94 ERA in his first three starts) -- to the mound in Monday’s series opener against the Pirates. He’ll face rookie sensation Paul Skenes, who’s 6-1 with a 1.93 ERA in 12 starts. It’s the sixth matchup ever between starting pitchers who were both drafted the previous year, and the first since Mark Prior and Kirk Saarloos in 2002, according to Elias.

"I’m just going to worry about Bloss,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. "I think he’s worked really hard to get ready for his next start. We expect him to go out there and have a solid outing for us and give us a chance to win."

There’s little doubt the Astros will acquire at least one starting pitcher, and Houston general manager Dana Brown said Friday he would ideally like to add to two starters -- which could impact the spots of Arrighetti and Bloss in the rotation.

Two of the starters the Astros have talked about the most, according to a source, are right-hander Jack Flaherty of the Tigers and left-hander Yusei Kikuchi, both of whom are free agents after this year.

Flaherty has bounced back in '24, going 7-5 with a 2.95 ERA for Detroit after a disappointing season that included a Deadline trade to Baltimore a year ago. Flaherty is owed about $4.6 million for the remainder of the season, after which he will be a free agent.

Kikuchi may be the most sought-after rental starter on the market this week. The 33-year-old isn’t having a great year, but he strikes out a lot of batters (130 in 115 2/3 innings) and doesn’t walk many (30), an appealing combination heading into the stretch run. Kikuchi is owed roughly $3.3 million for the rest of the season prior to becoming a free agent.

"Starting pitching is a priority, without a question,” Brown said Friday. "We have [six] starters on the IL, so we have to go get a starter. We would like to get a bullpen guy. That would be pretty helpful because our core guys down in the bullpen have been pitching a lot. So to give these guys a break sometimes will be good. If a bat comes along that makes sense, we’ll pursue it. We are working in those three lanes of players.”

Astros starters Justin Verlander, Luis Garcia, Cristian Javier, José Urquidy and Lance McCullers Jr., are on the IL, with Javier, Urquidy and maybe McCullers out for the season. J.P. France, who began the year in the rotation, was injured at Triple-A and had season-ending surgery. Verlander and Garcia are scheduled to face hitters on the mound Tuesday in Houston.

The Astros would like to go to a six-man rotation to take some of the weight off the shoulders of Ronel Blanco, Hunter Brown and Arrighetti, who are approaching career highs in innings pitched. Arrighetti has posted a 3.91 ERA over his last four starts, including three consecutive starts of six innings.

Arrighetti has flashed the kind of potential that made him the club’s top pitching prospect entering the season -- but while his future is bright, the Astros would like to add some experienced depth for the stretch run.