LOS ANGELES -- On the night of the Oscars, it was tough to find a better drama than the matchup between the Dodgers and the Padres on Sunday at Dodger Stadium.

In the seventh battle between two of the most talented teams in the Majors, the Dodgers punched early. The Padres, however, hit right back in the later innings. In the end, the Dodgers’ bullpen was unable to shut the door in a wild 8-7 loss to the Padres in 11 innings.

• Box score

It was the first time since Aug. 10, 2011, against the Phillies, that the Dodgers lost a game in which they led by six or more runs. That’s a stretch of 228 consecutive games. It was also the first series loss for L.A. this season.

“Every game has been a battle,” said Dodgers utility man Chris Taylor. “Definitely felt it in that game. Constant back and forth, up and down. For us, I felt like just a lot of missed opportunities. We weren’t able to shut the door on them when we needed to.”

The first six games between the Dodgers and Padres were all decided in the last two innings of the game. The seventh meeting was no different, though it appeared the Dodgers had full control of the series finale. Taylor homered in a five-run sixth inning that gave L.A. a 7-1 lead and had a series split just nine outs away.

But with Kenley Jansen, Blake Treinen and Scott Alexander all unavailable for Sunday’s game, the Dodgers weren’t able to hold off the Padres, who scored six runs in the last three innings to send the game into extra innings.

“They outplayed us,” Roberts said. “All the games are close. But seven games, they’ve outplayed us. But that’s baseball, so we have to regroup and get ready for the Reds.”

Let’s take a look at the Dodgers’ thought process regarding their bullpen usage.

Seventh inning
Score: 7-1, Dodgers
Win Probability, per Baseball Savant: 99 percent

It was an ideal situation to use David Price in the seventh inning of a six-run game. Price hadn’t pitched since April 19 against the Mariners and could’ve given the Dodgers multiple innings. The Padres were able to take advantage of some defensive mistakes in the infield, scoring two off Price to make it a 7-3 game.

Price threw just 17 pitches in the frame, but he didn’t come back out for a second inning. After the game, Roberts said that the reason Price didn’t pitch multiple innings was because the left-hander is dealing with a hamstring strain and they’re not yet sure of the severity.

“The hope was for him to go a couple of innings right there,” Roberts said.

With Price out, the Dodgers’ options were limited heading into the eighth inning. They still felt they had enough options with Victor González, Brusdar Graterol, Nelson and Garrett Cleavinger still available.

Eighth inning
Score: 7-3, Dodgers
Win Probability: 97 percent

Of his options, Roberts went with Graterol against the top of the Padres’ lineup. Over the first three weeks of the season, the Dodgers leaned on Corey Knebel in these situations but he’s out for multiple months with a lat strain. Treinen, who is also an option in this spot, was down for the night.

For the second consecutive outing to start his season, Graterol wasn’t able to get the job done. He led off the inning with a leadoff walk against Fernando Tatis Jr. After getting Trent Grisham to fly out, Graterol gave up a one-out single to Manny Machado that ended his night.

The Dodgers turned to the lefty González with left-handed bats Eric Hosmer and Jake Cronenworth due up. González also didn’t get the job done, either, giving up an RBI single to Hosmer and walking Cronenworth. The Dodgers’ left-hander was able to bounce back by getting Jorge Mateo to ground into a forceout and striking out Jurickson Profar.

But Graterol’s inability to get through the inning affected the Dodgers’ plan. González could’ve returned for the ninth inning in a perfect world, but he threw 15 pitches in the eighth, just three shy of his season-high.

“Brusdar just didn’t execute pitches tonight,” Roberts said.

Ninth inning
Score: 7-5, Dodgers
Win Probability: 92.9 percent

With Graterol and Gonzalez out of the game, the Dodgers had to make a decision between Nelson and Cleavinger. Nelson hadn’t attempted a save and Cleavinger was just called up to replace Dennis Santana, who went on the COVID-related IL on Saturday.

Roberts called on Nelson. The Padres responded with two runs in the ninth to tie the game and ultimately win the game on a Hosmer sac fly in the 11th inning. The Dodgers’ bullpen has been one of the best in the National League to begin the season. The execution fell short on Sunday.

“We just didn’t play good baseball,” Roberts said. “We just didn’t play clean baseball. We gave up runs late. … We didn’t pitch well in the back end of the game.”