May's rotation status murky after loss to Red Sox

BOSTON -- If this was indeed a showcase for Dustin May to make a play to remain a part of the Dodgers’ starting rotation, then the right-hander may be in trouble in the wake of a 4-3 loss to the Red Sox on Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park.

With Blake Snell expected to rejoin the rotation sometime in the coming week, there will be an odd man out, and manager Dave Roberts has not been not shy about letting people know it will likely come down to either “Big Red” or Emmett Sheehan, who picked up the win on Friday night.

“I think that with Shohei [Ohtani] building up, with Blake coming back, which hopefully will be next weekend after [Saturday’s rehab] outing,” said the Dodgers’ skipper. “I think you’re talking about Emmett, you’re talking about Dustin, and how it looks.”

Asked to assess his own performance, May replied, “I felt good. Mechanics were in a good spot. I just didn’t execute.”

Shaky out of the gate, the 6-foot-6 right-hander hit the first batter he faced, but settled down after snuffing out small fires in the first two frames, though he would allow a run to cross in the first inning.

Keeping Boston off the board from the second through fourth innings, May retired nine straight batters at one point, including striking out the side in the third.

“I felt good in the middle part,” May said. “Definitely, in the fifth inning, I left too much stuff up and not quality strikes.”

After retiring the first batter of the fifth inning, which would be his last, the wheels came off as the Red Sox pounded out three straight hits, the last a two-run homer off the bat of Alex Bregman.

“The third and fourth innings I thought were the best innings that he had,” Roberts said of his starter. “[He] got into a good rhythm with strikeouts. Then the fifth inning was the base hit, the [Roman] Anthony fly ball hits off the wall, he gets to third base and it sort of opened up a little bit on him. Bregman sees a breaking ball that’s just middle-middle and [hits the] homer right there.”

When asked where he was trying to locate the pitch that Bregman took deep, May said, “Really anywhere but middle-middle.”

The offense behind May was a bit slow to get going as former teammate Walker Buehler held them to just a walk in the first two frames. Then patience paid off in the form of a Freddie Freeman bases-loaded walk in the third to bring Miguel Rojas home, tying the game.

Michael Conforto opened up the top of the fourth inning with a 424-foot home run to center field, his ninth of the season, then Rojas would walk and score once more to provide May a cushion that vanished in the fifth.

Los Angeles' lineup was able to draw nine walks on the day, but squandered numerous scoring opportunities as its 3-4-5 hitters were a combined 0-for-13 with five strikeouts.

“Usually, we’re very good at cashing in,” said Conforto, who was 3-for-4 with a walk and two doubles. “We just didn’t do a good job today. We’ve got to be better at that, and turn the page and get ready for Cincinnati.”

“We’re still trying to find our way with the bats,” said Roberts. “We’ve got to regroup and try and win a series in Cincinnati.”

With the loss, May moves to 6-7 on the year, after allowing four earned runs and five hits while striking out five over five innings.

“I feel like I get to a good spot, and I can’t get through one inning,” said May. “It’s not a fun feeling, but I know that there’s good stuff in there. It’s just a matter of eliminating the one.”

With the loss, the Dodgers dropped their second series since the All-Star break, despite winning the series opener on Friday night. They’ll open a three-game set in Cincinnati on Monday night.