Shohei Ohtani clobbered his 39th home run for his 1,000th career hit and also struck out eight in his best start this season -- but what should have been a banner day for the Dodgers instead turned into a 5-3 defeat to the Cardinals.

Wednesday against the Cardinals, Ohtani pitched four innings, struck out eight, and allowed a run on two third-inning hits that strung together wouldn’t have left the infield: A popup by Jordan Walker that second baseman Miguel Rojas lost in the sun, and a gutsy two-out squeeze bunt by Brendan Donovan that scored Walker from third.