Trade candidate Matt Moore helps Rays beat Dodgers

LOS ANGELES >> Major League Baseball’s schedule makers devised a devilish week at Dodger Stadium.

There was no game Monday and there is no game Thursday. In between were two games against the Tampa Bay Rays, a team constructed largely by Dodgers’ president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman.

As fate would have it, two of the most attractive starting pitchers who might switch teams by Monday’s trade deadline lined up to give the Dodgers a taste of their talents. Matt Moore followed Chris Archer’s gem with one of his own in the Rays’ 3-1 win Wednesday.

It was a tantalizing preview, maybe, for the aounced crowd of 43,576. Inside the Dodgers’ front office, however, two games usually aren’t enough to sway the collective thinking. There are oodles of numbers, scouting reports and former general managers to do that.

Still, what the fans saw from Archer (one eaed run in seven iings) and Moore (no eaed runs in 6 2/3 iings) was not an illusion, Dodgers pitcher J.P. Howell said.

“When they fail, they’re still going deep in the game,” said Howell, who played for Tampa Bay from 2006-12. “It takes a couple hits and one swing of the bat, and that’s hard to do against them. You put together some hits and then you have to coect when it’s time and that usually doesn’t happen.”

Howell, Moore and Archer were teammates in 2011 and 2012.

“Their work ethic, the kind of people they are — they’re great also,” Howell said. “They’d fit in anywhere, no doubt about it.”

While Archer’s day was undone by a pair of errors, Moore survived four walks and a historic stolen base Wednesday to forge a series split.

The loss ended the Dodgers’ three-game wiing streak. Combined with the San Francisco Giants’ 2-1 loss to the Cinciati Reds, the Dodgers remained 2 1/2 games out of first place in the National League West.

The Dodgers got their only run off Moore (7-7) on a bizarre play in the second iing. With Joc Pederson on third base and A.J. Ellis on first, the lead-footed catcher took off for second.

Rays catcher Luke Maile’s throw was well short of the bag. The ball skipped into center field, Pederson scored from third base, and Ellis had the first stolen base of his career at age 35.

“I’m not really known for my speed,” said Ellis, who was allowed to take the base back to his locker. “It’ll be nice proof that I did get one. One’s enough.”

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Ellis also missed a home run by a couple feet in the seventh iing, when Rays left fielder Corey Dickerson jumped at the wall to catch his soaring fly ball. That was the case more often than not, the Dodgers failing to capitalize on their limited opportunities. Only two ruers reached second base against the Rays all afteoon.

Moore allowed four hits — none went for extra bases — and struck out five. Relievers Kevin Jepsen, Xavier Cedeno and Alex Colome finished the job. Colome, who has a 2.29 eaed-run average and 22 saves this season, is a potential trade candidate as well.

Dodgers starter Brandon McCarthy (2-1) pitched four iings, his shortest start of the season. The right-hander labored in the afteoon heat, throwing 83 pitches, but didn’t really run into trouble until the fourth iing.

Brad Miller led off with a double and Evan Longoria followed with a home run to left field, his 23rd of the season, giving the Rays the lead for good.

“The Longoria at-bat, I should have finished better, but the Miller at-bat, it was a really bad two-strike pitch to him,” McCarthy said. “Longoria, it’s a 3-2 curveball. It’s not a great one, but it’s not one you expect someone to sit back and crush.”

McCarthy allowed four hits and three runs. He suffered his first loss in nine starts as a Dodger.

Four relievers scattered four hits the rest of the way. Ross Stripling finished the game with three scoreless iings in his first appearance as the Dodgers’ long reliever. It’s a role that “has huge value,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Without ace Clayton Kershaw, who might not pitch again this year because of a back injury, the Dodgers’ starters have a mediocre 4.30 ERA. Kershaw averages more than seven iings per start; the rest of the staff averages a mere 5 1/3. The search for outside help is justified.

Friedman has said he’s focused on acquiring “elite-level talent.” That made Roberts’ choice of words after Wednesday’s game especially interesting.

“Archer, his (5-14) record notwithstanding, he’s an elite pitcher in our opinion,” the manager said. “Matt Moore’s got really good stuff.”