The San Diego Padres took the first game of the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday night and briefly had the lead in the National League West. 

Two days later, the Padres are 1.5 games back after two straight losses to LA. 

Tuesday's game went down to the wire, and a rare Mason Miller error gave LA the win at Petco Park. 

However, Wednesday night was not encouraging by any means for the Padres. Shohei Ohtani dominated on the mound and hit a home run as the Dodgers won, 4-0.

San Diego had a grand total of five hits, with all of them being singles, and centerfielder Jackson Merrill left the game with a back injury. 

Randy Vasquez allowed a run in each of the first two innings, including a first-pitch homer to Ohtani. 

After that, Vasquez settled in but finished allowing three runs in 4.1 innings on six hits and zero strikeouts before being removed from the game. 

The Padres bullpen usage consisted of Wandy Peralta, Yuki Matusi and Ron Marinaccio, and the latter allowed the final run on a solo home run by Teoscar Hernandez in the ninth inning. 

The Padres' first hit came in the fourth inning via a Gavin Sheets single, and Miguel Andujar saw his hitting streak come to an end on Wednesday. 

Ohtani finished with five shutout innings on the mound, allowing just three hits and two walks to lower his ERA to an MLB-best 0.73 and give him his 4th win of the season. 

The big concern for San Diego is not being blanked by the best player in baseball, but Merrill exiting the game early. 

The Padres CF appeared to injure himself trying to rob Ohtani's home run. 

Bryce Johnson replaced Merrill later, and the young Padres star was not even in the clubhouse by the time reporters got in there after the loss. 

What that means remains to be seen, but there could be a chance that Merrill lands on the IL and somebody is promoted from Triple-A. 

Jase Bowen has been playing well for El Paso lately, and he could be an easy choice to be promoted to the big leagues if Merrill has to miss some time. 

The Padres and Dodgers are both off on Thursday, but San Diego won't travel as the Athletics will begin a three-game series at Petco Park on Friday, which means Mason Miller facing his former team.