The Cardinals' strong pitching limited the Dodgers to just three hits; Dodgers' manager: the lineup lacked decisiveness.

The Los Angeles Dodgers faced the St. Louis Cardinals in the first game of a three-game series today, but their lineup was completely stifled, managing only three hits and ultimately losing 2-3. Dodgers' manager Dave Roberts stated after the game that the team's hitters generally lacked decisiveness today.

The Cardinals started Sonny Gray, who delivered an impressive performance, allowing only one hit and one run over seven innings, striking out eight and issuing one walk, effectively shutting down the Dodgers' lineup. Regarding his performance, Dave Roberts expressed high praise, saying, "We've been shut down by him before; he's an excellent pitcher who can place his pitches accurately, whether inside, outside, high, or low."

Dave Roberts added that although Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani, and the returning Max Muncy showed solid hitting, the team could only muster three scattered hits and failed to generate a rally, making it significantly harder to win.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Dodgers mounted a final rally, with Shohei Ohtani getting a hit to reach base, followed by Mookie Betts hitting a fly ball to right field that seemed to be a hit but was caught by Cardinals' outfielder Lars Nootbaar with a spectacular diving catch, extinguishing the comeback hopes. In response, Roberts said, "He was quite far from the ball but still made an incredible catch; that's part of baseball, and Nootbaar deserves applause and recognition."

Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani had one hit in four at-bats today, extending his hitting streak to four games, and is now just three hits away from the career milestone of 1,000, with a good chance to achieve it in tomorrow's game.