The Dodgers fell 5-3 to the St. Louis Cardinals and lost the series at home by two games to one.

The team lost the lead in the eighth inning, despite a good outing from Shohei Ohtani in four innings as a starting pitcher. The Japanese hit his 1,000th hit in the Major Leagues.

Ohtani struck out eight batters, allowed one earned run, and did not issue a walk in his work after four innings.

Ohtani was left with a 2.37 ERA, 25 strikeouts, 1.11 whip and 5 earned runs in 19.0 innings of work.

The Dodgers offense could not take a comfortable lead and a defensive error handed the lead to the St. Louis team.

Alex Freeland, the Dodgers' third baseman, threw poorly towards second base to allow an unearned run that gave the lead to the Cardinals in the eighth inning. They then extended their lead with another run in the ninth inning.

They only managed eight hits in this game and Ohtani put two runs on the board with a two-run home run, his 1,000th hit in the Majors.

The Dodgers left five runners on base and went 2-for-7 with men in scoring position.

Padres close in on Dodgers

With this loss, the Dodgers are now 2.5 games ahead of the San Diego Padres who will finish their series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night.

San Diego will be able to cut the difference with the Dodgers to just two games and then will travel home to host the Boston Red Sox over the weekend, one of the teams The Majors' hottest hitters.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, will face the Toronto Blue Jays at home this weekend hoping to maintain their lead in the NL West.