Manny Ramirez adds spark to offense, silence to postgame

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Manny Ramirez ignites Dodgers!

Manny Ramirez goes deep for the first time this season!

Manny Ramirez talks to media for the first time this season … uh, you know, you just can’t have everything.

On the good side, however, Manny really did give the Dodgers a lift Tuesday with his fourth-inning rocket launcher into the left-field pavilion.

The Diamondbacks had just tied the game, 1-1, in the top of the inning. Manny led off the bottom half against right-hander Ian Kennedy and sent a 2-2 pitch on a 435-foot ride.

‘We really didn’t have too much going there, and then Manny smacked that ball,’’ said Casey Blake. ‘That kind of gave us a little boost. Any time you get a big home run when you’ve been scuffling to do anything is certainly a big lift.’’

Blake followed two batters later with a two-run home run, and an offensive explosion was on. Matt Kemp chipped in with a solo shot in the fifth, and Andre Ethier added a three-run homer on an 0-2 pitch in the sixth.

That’s four home runs in six innings, or one more than the Dodgers managed in their first six games.

Home runs so prolific, it seemed contagious.

‘Sure, I guess,’’ Kemp said. ‘It looks like it.’’

We would love to tell you what Silent Manny thought about this, figuring that since he had finally come up with a big hit in a regular season game he would break his semi-mysterious media blackout.

Alas, by the time the clubhouse opened after the game, Manny was already gone. Apparently he’s not big on showering at the ballpark.

Still, the Dodgers had a 9-5 home-opening victory and their offense was alive. Manny granting us his keen insight into all of this would have to be left to another day.

--Steve Dilbeck