Manny Gets on the Board, but Dodgers Fall to Padres

The Dodgers had their chances to win their second game of the season against the Padres, but they couldn't capitalize and instead fell in San Diego by a final score of 4-2.

Manny Ramirez got his first hit of the season in the fourth inning, when, with his team trailing 1-0, Manny drilled a double into deep right center field. That was just the start of a mini-rally for the Dodgers, as Russell Martin knocked Manny in two batters later when he doubled to center.

After James Loney walked and Matt Kemp reched first on an infield single that loaded the bases, L.A. seemed to be in pretty good shape. But they missed a golden opportunity by managing to get only one more run out of a bases loaded, one-out situation, and it would come back to haunt them.

L.A.'s 2-1 lead lasted into the sixth, before starting pitcher Randy Wolf started to lose it. He allowed back-to-back singles to open the Padres' half of the inning, and then gave up a two-run double to Chase Headley that gave San Diego the lead for good. Guillermo Mota came in for relief duty, and allowed a sacrifice fly that scored Headley and gave the Padres their fourth and final run of the game.

The Dodgers had a chance to get some runs on the board in the seventh, but a poor decision by Orlando Hudson put an end to all that. Hudson was looking at a 3-1 count, with Manny Ramirez waiting in the on deck circle, and runners on first and second. But Hudson swung at a pitch in the dirt, Ramirez popped up the only decent pitch he saw, and that was that.

The pitching wasn't terrible for the Dodgers, but the team's hitting was certainly below average. Simply put, missed opportunities were the reason for this loss. And in just the second game of the season, it's something that the team can learn from, instead of something that they should regret.