Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts stuck by his decision to start Yu Darvish after Wednesday's 5-1 loss to the Houston Astros in Game 7 of the World Series.

Darvish was pulled in the second inning of Game 7 after allowing five runs on 47 pitches. He was also pulled in the second inning of Game 3, having allowed four runs on 49 pitches. In total, he gave up nine runs (eight earned) in only 3 1/3 innings during the World Series.

Darvish said after the loss he had tried to make changes to keep the Astros at bay in his second start, but they simply didn't pay off.

"From the last outing I learned and I tried to make adjustments going toward today's outing," Darvish said through an interpreter, per ESPN. "The last outing my breaking ball, especially slider, wasn't that good or sharp. So I was trying to make adjustments between outings. And today I was able to throw it for strikes, but it didn't get to the level that I wanted it to be, which is dominating."

Darvish, 31, was acquired from the Texas Rangers in July for three prospects, posted a 4-3 record with a 3.44 ERA in nine regular season games with the Dodgers. He allowed just two runs in his two postseason starts entering the World Series.

"I know he wanted the baseball. I know he was prepared," Roberts said of Darvish. "I just can't explain the results. I really can't."

Roberts defended his decision to start Darvish over Game 5 starter Clayton Kershaw - who pitched four shutout innings in relief of Darvish - or Game 4 starter Alex Wood.

"Yu has been one of our top three starters all year or since we acquired him," Roberts said. "He had a bad one in Houston. But to think that we would start Alex on short rest, something he's never done, you don't know what you're going to get in either one of those two guys, and to think they're going to start the game, I think it's unfair to Yu."

Astros manager A.J. Hinch praised Darvish's abilities after the game, noting plate discipline was key to the Astros' success against him.

"When you're going to face a high-end pitcher, and even though we beat him up a little bit twice this series, it is not going to take away how good he is," Hinch said. "We've seen him a lot in Texas and obviously he's a difficult pitcher. You have to pick a pitch. You have to find an area of the zone that you feel comfortable with and stay in the strike zone the most you can.

"If he gets you to chase, it's advantage Darvish. If he gets you to hit his off-speed pitches, it's advantage Darvish. So you have to be very disciplined. And we did that two games in a row where we got hittable pitches and did damage."

Darvish is set to become a free agent this winter and is considered unlikely to return to the Dodgers.