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LOS ANGELES — Hours after fans had tried on their replica World Series championship rings with his name on them and Shohei Ohtani had accessorized his start on the mound with a home run, the Cardinals’ dogged, pressuring offense overcame the Los Angeles Dodgers for the jewel win of the road trip.

The Cardinals peppered the Dodgers with a dozen hits and scored three times in the closing two innings to head home with a comeback 5-3 victory Wednesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium. The Cardinals erased Ohtani’s start and his homer earlier in the game to take the series and finish the summer 4-2 against the defending World Series champions.

In every inning after Ohtani’s fourth and final inning on the mound, the Cardinals got at least one runner into scoring position. The breakthrough came in the eighth when Jordan Walker lined a two-out RBI single for his third hit of the game and put in motion a play that would bring home the go-ahead run on an error. Lars Nootbaar added an RBI double in the ninth to give the bullpen cushion it never had in the first eight innings.

What Kyle Leahy started with 2 2/3 innings of stellar relief and JoJo Romero continued with a key strikeout, Riley O’Brien finished for his first big league save. He got the final out of the game with Ohtani on deck.

O’Brien earned his first major league win Monday, his first save Wednesday, and all in the series the Cardinals took from LA.

The Cardinals turned a fly ball lost in the sun, a stolen base and Brendan Donovan’s infield single into an early lead in the third on Ohtani the pitcher. Ohtani the designated hitter seized the lead back with a two-run homer in the bottom of the same inning.

Those two runs were the only earned runs allowed by Cardinals lefty Matthew Liberatore. He held the Dodgers to three runs total on six hits through his four innings. The bullpen, specifically the right-left combo of Leahy and Romero, limited the Dodgers from there and bought time for the Cardinals offense to turn their repeated threats into their eighth-inning runs.

Leahy pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings and struck out the side in order in the sixth. He yielded to Romero in the seventh when Ohtani came up with the bases emptied by the double play Leahy just coaxed.

Romero struck out Ohtani to end the inning ahead of the Cardinals rally.

Pesky Cards break through in 8th

A persistent and pesky stretch of offense fell shy of tying the game inning after inning for the Cardinals until the eighth inning and a pair of relentless at-bats set up the go-ahead event.

The Cardinals were 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position when Walker came to the plate with two outs in the eighth inning and two teammates on base. But the two batters ahead of him had tenderized Dodgers reliever Alex Vesia with prolonged at-bats. Masyn Winn saw 10 pitches from Vesia, and he roped the 10th — a change-up — for a single that put the tying run in scoring position.

Against the lefty Vesia, the Cardinals turned to pinch hitter Yohel Pozo, and he worked the reliever for eight pitches before flying out to center.

Vesia had two outs but also an inning stressed with pitches.

Walker took advantage and lifted the third pitch he saw — a slider — toward center field to score the tying run and get Winn to third. When Walker forced the issue by advancing to second on the throw, Dodgers third baseman Alex Freeland complicated the inning and effectively tossed the tie game into the outfield. Winn scored on Freeland’s error for the 4-3 lead.

Ohtani’s 1K hit, 8-K start

On the same day the Dodgers passed out thousands of replica World Series championship rings with his name on them, the fortuitous turn of LA’s rotation and timing of a career milestone converged for Ohtani.

At the same time he made the 94th start of his career, Ohtani delivered the 1,000th hit of his career — a home run. He launched a two-run homer off Liberatore to overtake the Cardinals’ 1-0 lead in the third inning. The bolt was Ohtani’s 39th homer of the season, and it came in time for him to pitch one inning with the lead.

The game’s two-way star made his eighth start of the season and eighth since returning to the mound from elbow surgery. He established his grip on the game quickly by dotting a 100 mph fastball for a strikeout of Alec Burleson in the first inning. Ohtani struck out the side in his fourth and final inning.

Burleson fouled off a 100.6 mph fastball as the leadoff hitter.

He struck out when he tipped the next pitch — an 88.6 mph slider.

Ohtani struck out Nootbaar with the same slider and then finished the inning and his outing by bending an 83.6 mph sweeping slider by Winn.

Ohtani, who has yet to win a game this season as he eases into more innings, had started only once previous against the Cardinals. In 2023 with the Angels, Ohtani struck out 13 Cardinals in five innings at Busch Stadium but took a no decision. Nolan Gorman and Dylan Carlson hit home runs off of Ohtani, who allowed two four runs on five hits.

Cards cannot capitalize on gift

The choice made at shortstop gave the Cardinals their first chance at tying the game.

With Ohtani off the mound and staying in the game at designated hitter, the Cardinals mustered a potential game-tying rally in the sixth inning. Ivan Herrera sparked it with a leadoff walk, and Burleson followed with a single. The pivot of the inning, however, came when shortstop Mookie Betts elected not to go to second on a ground ball and threw for the sure out at first.

That allowed Herrera to score but also put Burleson at second with one out.

The Cardinals would have at least one chance to bring home the tying run from scoring position and likely two. Masyn Winn singled to keep the inning going and put the tying run at third with two outs. A ball in play had the chance to tie the game. The Cardinals didn’t capitalize. Gorman struck out while Winn stole second, and Walker nudged a grounder back to pitcher Justin Wrobleski for the inning’s final out.

Through seven innings, the Cardinals were 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position.

Unusual play produces Dodgers’ 3rd run

The Dodgers had a two-run lead thanks to Ohtani’s homer when center fielder Andy Pages led off the fourth inning with a single and began an adventurous trip around the bases.

What brought him home wasn’t a hit off a bat, but a throw off of one.

And all of it happened with the next batter, Miguel Rojas, at the plate.

Pages took second on a wild pitch from Liberatore.

He attempted to steal third base on the lefty, and when catcher Pedro Pages jumped from his crouch to make the throw, Rojas remained still in the box, his bat up from his shoulder like an antenna. Pedro Pages’ throw smacked off Rojas’ bat, and the catcher quickly lost where the baseball went on the ricochet. That allowed Andy Pages to scramble to his feet at third and score easily before the Cardinals’ Pages could even spot where the ball went, let alone retrieve it.

Pedro Pages received an error for the throw and the run was unearned for Liberatore, but it provided the difference on the scoreboard until the top of the eighth.