Dodgers show cracks early, implode late in loss to Padres

LOS ANGELES -- A night of misplays and errors by the Dodgers set the stage for a full implosion in the ninth inning. The Padres rallied for four runs and five hits against Chris Hatcher and Juan Nicasio in the final frame for a 7-3 victory at Dodger Stadium.

For the second straight game in the series, the team that led after six innings lost the game.

A rebuilt Dodgers bullpen that looked strong in its three innings on opening day looked anything but on Tuesday night, as all six relief pitchers used allowed at least one hit. The bullpen allowed nine hits in all, and six runs, squandering another solid performance by Zack Greinke against the National League West.

Hatcher, who picked up his first career save on Monday, faced four batters on Tuesday and retired none of them, though one reached by error.

Greinke pitched six innings, allowing just one run while striking out four. He allowed just two hits, both in the first inning. Both were two-out singles but the second one, bu Justin Upton, was played into a triple thanks to an ill-advised sliding attempt in left field by Carl Crawford, allowing Matt Kemp to score.

But that was it for the Padres against Greinke, who allowed on a walk to Matt Kemp in the sixth inning after that.

The Padres answered with a pair of singles in the sixth inning against Pedro Baez and Paco Rodriguez, but it appeared Yimi Garcia was going to escape the jam when he induced a pop up behind second base off the bat of Yangervis Solarte. But shortstop Jimmy Rollins couldn't corral the ball, allowing the tying run to score on the second error of the night for Rollins.

Even when the Padres grabbed the lead in the eighth inning Puig forgot how many outs there were, allowing runners to advance, though ultimately that didn't really factor into the run scoring as much as the two singles in the inning. The run-scoring blow was a sharp single to left by left-handed Yonder Alonso against lefty J.P. Howell, the matchup the Dodgers wanted.

Craig Kimbrel made his Padres debut and pitched a spotless ninth inning, striking out the side, though with a four-run lead he didn't get a save.

The bright spot

Adrian Gonzalez hit a game-tying home run, an absolute bomb crushed to right center field in the eighth inning against Joaquin Benoit. It was the second home run in as many days for Gonzalez, who had three hits for the second consecutive game.

Both times the Dodgers erased a deficit, Gonzalez was in the middle of it. After five scoreless frames, the Dodgers finally got to Tyson Ross in the sixth inning, when Yasiel Puig and Gonzalez led off the inning with back-to-back doubles to tie the score, followed by a single up the middle and under Ross to score Gonzalez for a 2-1 Dodgers lead.

Gonzalez is the first Dodgers player (dating back to at least 1914) with at least three hits and a home run in each of the first two games of the season. The only other Dodger to do so with two hits and a homer in the last 102 years was Frank Howard, in 1964.

Tuesday particulars

Home runs: Adrian Gonzalez (2)

WP - Joaquin Benoit (1-0): 1 IP, 1 hit, 1 run, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

LP -  Chris Hatcher (0-1): 0 IP, 3 hits, 4 runs (2 earned)