The Los Angeles Dodgers' slide continued on Friday as the NL West leaders lost 2-1 against the Baltimore Orioles to make it four consecutive defeats this week.The Dodgers put Shohei Ohtani on the mound for a surprise start after Tyler Glasnow was scratched from the lineup just before the series opener against the Orioles.While Ohtani pitched 3.2 scoreless innings in his start, he received no support from the Dodgers' offense. The defending World Series champions scored after Freddie Freeman's solo home run in the sixth to tie the score, but the Orioles secured the win after a walk-off homer from catcher Samuel Basallo.The Dodgers have scored just four runs in their last four games and Ohtani expressed his frustration on the team's offensive struggles after the loss."We need to make sure that we are just hitting better than we are, and I think the side effect of that is we're a little bit too eager, putting a little too much pressure on on ourselves. And I think you know, in a sense, that's really, hurting us more than helping us," Ohtani said through Will Ireton.Freddie Freeman praised Dodgers teammate Shohei Ohtani's resilenceShohei Ohtani, who was expected to pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the last series, made his start on Friday on short notice. The two-way phenom threw 70 pitches, 44 strikes, and even threw a thunderous 101.5 mph four-seam fastball.Reigning World Series MVP Freddie Freeman, who scored the only run for the team in the loss, praised Ohtani for bailing out the team after Glasnow was scratched.“You could see he’s exhausted after an inning or two," Freeman said. "It’s muggy. He’s still not healthy. He’s still sick. He gave it his all. It’s amazing what he’s doing. He’s throwing 100, 101 mph. We will be saying this every year about Shohei Ohtani until he retires. He’s a unicorn. He pitched great. Everything he had in that fourth inning to get out of it.”The Dodgers' lead at the top of the NL West was cut to 2.0 games after the loss in the series opener.