That was disappointing. Padres very easily could have swept the series up in LA, but instead they drop two out of three. On the bright side, we saw some brilliant starting pitching by Adam Eaton. Eight innings, one run. The Pads need more of that out of their starters. And how about the rocket Eaton hit off the scoreboard in left? Check this out:

         AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO
Lawrence  2 2 2  1  0  0   0  0  0
Peavy     3 0 1  1  0  0   0  0  0
Eaton     3 1 1  1  0  0   0  0  0
Total     8 3 4  3  0  0   0  0  0

Each of the starters hit a double in his 2004 debut. They’re hitting a combined .500/.500/.875 so far. What’s the over/under on homers by Peavy and Eaton combined this year? How about 5.

Trevor Hoffman made his first appearance of the season and looked sharp. Aki Otsuka also bounced back strong from his tough loss. I don’t know about Ismael Valdez. Come in with a guy on first, allow a stolen base, wild pitch, and game-winning base hit in the span of five pitches. That’s not good.

What’s also not good is going into extra innings with Ryan Klesko and Phil Nevin watching from the bench. It’s early, but I could stand to see a little less of Kerry Robinson out there.

We could dwell on the negatives all day if we were so inclined, fixating on things like 33 runners left on base in three games. But let’s look at the positives. First and foremost, the Pads must have done something right to be in a position to leave that many guys on base. If they keep hitting like they have been, from top to bottom, eventually those runners are going to start crossing the plate.

It’s three games, folks. Sure, there are people who probably have jumped back off the bandwagon since Monday, but who needs them. The Pads were in position to win all three games in LA and probably should have taken at least two of them. But it didn’t happen.

Bummer.

Now that we’re over that, it’s time to move onto bigger and better things. Like the regular season debut of Petco Park, David Wells in a Padre uniform, and a series against Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants.

The Pads have a good ballclub this year. An Opening Day victory didn’t make that any more true, nor did two ensuing losses make it any less true. But one thing is for sure: Petco is going to be rockin’ tonight big time. Former Padre Dustin Hermanson goes for the Giants. Game starts at 7:05, but if you’re going to the park, you’ll want to get there as early as you possibly can.

This is going to be fun. Dream scenario: Barry Bonds hits two solo homers to pass Willie Mays on the all-time home run list. Pads win, 15-2. That would be sweet.

Hey, it could happen.