Wow. This team has got to start playing a little bit more like World Series champs. I was willing to look past dropping three of four to the Dodgers, one of the National League teams that improved the most this offseason, but the Padres? A loss to the Padres in the first week of the 2011 season hurts.

Ironically, the defense, which struggled so much during the opening weekend series against the Dodgers, played much better today than did the offense, which has been adequate of late but was completely lifeless today. Buster Posey, Pat Burrell, Pablo Sandoval, and Brandon Belt all played the kind of defensive baseball that might have pulled out another win or two against the Dodgers. None, however, did much of anything at the plate.

The team’s frustration is starting to show, too - Bruce Bochy made his first trip out of the dugout to argue (albeit gently) with an umpire, and Buster Posey was visibly upset with the second-base umpire’s safe call on a throw Posey made when one of the Padres stole second base. This team is, understandably, a little angry - with itself, with the calls it’s getting from umpires, and with the fact that the 2010 World Champions have blown their chance to return home with a .500 record.

Side note: I don’t know if it’s a San Diego thing, or if it had to do with the game being scheduled in the middle of the day on a weekday (which was odd in and of itself), but I definitely noticed less passion for the Padres on display at Petco Park today than I usually see for other teams. At AT&T Park or Dodger Stadium, the chants of “Let’s go [insert two-syllable name of team here]” are deafening, whether experienced on TV/radio or in person. At Petco, the chanting was quieter, and there were fewer displays of fan excitement or rowdiness. Odd.