If there is such a thing as a dress rehearsal in October, this is it.

A rivalry series featuring the top two teams in the National League West. A division crown hanging in the balance. A potential postseason preview between baseball’s winningest team and the team that performs best in the second half of the season.

For a late September showcase, the stakes couldn’t be much higher at Dodger Stadium this week. And in a series-opening 4-2 loss to the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night, the Dodgers could hardly have looked flatter.

Until the last at bat.

After eight innings of missed opportunities and stranded baserunners, the Dodgers were dealt one final blow in the ninth inning when Miguel Rojas hit a game-ending triple play that silenced the crowd, all with Shohei Ohtani on deck as the potential winning run.

It was the latest humiliation in what was the Dodgers’ eighth loss to the Padres in 11 games, a setback that cut the team’s division lead to two games. If they don’t make any changes over the next two nights, that gap could disappear by the end of the week. And if they ultimately strangle the division, an already complicated postseason path could become even more daunting.

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The Padres, who secured a playoff spot and improved their record to 41-17 since the All-Star break, the best record in the majors, were better in virtually every way.

On the mound, San Diego starter Michael King outpaced Dodgers rookie Landon Knack. While King gave up just one unearned run in five innings, Knack was worn down in a four-inning, four-run outing; a troubling outcome for an unproven pitcher who will likely start in the postseason.

The Padres (91-66) also led the way at bat, scoring runs and collecting eight hits, while the Dodgers (93-64) left seven men on base and scored two of their 10 runs with runners in scoring position.

Most importantly, the Padres played cleaner and — continuing a trend that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has emphasized in this series — seemingly with more intensity.

Their only miss came in the first inning, when shortstop Xander Bogaerts threw a pitch high to first base, allowing Ohtani to score from second (Ohtani led off the inning with a double, breaking a Dodgers record with his 95th extra-base hit).

From then on, it was the Dodgers who made one sloppy mistake after another.

A failed double steal ended the first inning, squandering a chance to increase the lead to 1-0 with runners on the corners.

In the second inning, Mookie Betts struck out the next batter to leave the bases loaded. He hit a sweeper far out of the zone.

In the third inning, a single by Teoscar Hernández was quickly cancelled out when he was caught on a lineout by Max Muncy.

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A half-inning later, the Padres turned the 2-1 lead they had gained on a second-inning home run by Jake Cronenworth into a 4-1 lead by wearing down Knack in a three-hit, 39-pitch rally.

The Dodgers did little to threaten the rest of the game.

Switch-hitter Tommy Edman popped out with two hits on the bases to end the sixth inning after Padres manager Mike Shildt called on right-handed pitcher Jeremiah Estrada to move Edman to the left side, where he had a batting average of just .200.

In the seventh inning, Rojas turned a double play and Ohtani was eliminated on a tough hit by Padres left-handed pitcher Tanner Scott.

After the Dodgers stranded a two-out double by Hernández in the eighth inning, the game ended in a stunning run in the ninth inning when Rojas hit a ground ball to third base that the Padres turned for a triple play.

Now the Dodgers need to win back-to-back to clinch the division at home, and at least one more to ensure they’re in sole possession of first place going into the final weekend of the season.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.