HOUSTON — There is a very real chance that Gavin Stone could be the Dodgers’ No. 2 starter when the playoffs begin in a couple months.

If so, the Dodgers will need him to pitch much better than he did Friday night.

In a 5-0 loss at Minute Maid Park, Stone got knocked around by a resurgent Houston Astros club and its star-studded, high-powered offense, giving up four runs in six innings to continue a July slide during what had previously been a strong rookie season for the 25-year-old right-hander.

Prior to July, Stone had a 2.73 ERA, was showing rapid improvement with a new-look pitch mix, and had started to emerge as a potential weapon to be relied upon in the postseason.

Lately, however, Stone has come back to earth. Friday was the third time in four starts this month that he allowed four or more runs. He also struggled to avoid hard contact, matching a season-high with nine hits allowed, or rack up enough strikeouts to escape repeated jams, recording just three punchouts for a fourth straight start.

After a clean first inning, Stone ran into trouble in the second. He gave up a leadoff single. He walked a batter with two outs. Then, after falling behind 3-and-1 to Joey Loperfido, he gave an RBI single on a line drive to left field.

The Astros (54-49) only heated up from there.

Alex Bregman hammered a down-the-middle fastball in the third inning, sending a no-doubt blast over the left-field Crawford Boxes. In the fourth, Jon Singleton also went deep, flipping his bat with a two-handed toss after belting a two-run home run to the second deck in right field.

Stone avoided any further damage from there, but still saw his season ERA rise to 3.34, the highest it has been since late May.

The Dodgers (62-43) offered little support offensively, especially after Freddie Freeman was scratched from the lineup pregame to fly back to Los Angeles to be with his family (Freeman’s youngest son, 3-year-old Maximus, has been in the hospital this week according to an Instagram post from Freeman’s wife, Chelsea).

Shohei Ohtani led the game off with a double. After that, the Dodgers didn’t have another hit until the sixth inning, when they stranded the bases loaded.

In the seventh, a mental miscue cost them a run, when Kiké Hernández was tagged out at second base before Miguel Vargas could score from third on an infield single.

In all, the Dodgers managed just six hits, struck out 15 times and finished 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

Stone’s performance, however, was most troubling for a Dodgers team that remains without Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller; and that is approaching next Tuesday’s trade deadline with few obvious pitching upgrades available to pursue on the trade market.

The team has had interest in Garrett Crochet, but his workload concerns (and reported preference for a contract extension if he is dealt by the Chicago White Sox) have added obstacles to those negotiations.

Cheaper alternatives — like, perhaps, past Dodgers trade target Jack Flaherty — could still be added. But finding a clear upgrade over Stone, who has served as the de facto No. 2 in the rotation since Yamamoto’s shoulder injury in June, will be no easy task.

Even if the Dodgers add an arm, of course, Stone figures to play an important role in October.

The rookie still leads the team in wins (nine), is second in innings pitched (107 2/3) and, behind staff ace Tyler Glasnow, has been the club’s next-most dependable starting option.

The first three months of the season showcased his potential, and stoked hopes that he could be a postseason difference-maker for the Dodgers’ banged-up pitching staff.

But nights like Friday offered a stark reminder of the inherent risks in that plan — and the growing pains Stone continues to face in his bid to become an established, legitimate frontline option.

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