Manny Ramirez a big hit in New York

He singled again in the Dodgers' two-run fourth inning, this time driving in Hudson. The Dodgers were up, 5-0.

Hudson was two for five with a walk, ending an 0-for-22 slump.

Blake DeWitt crushed a pinch-hit solo home run in the seventh inning that hit the Subway Restaurant advertisement at the front of the second deck of seats beyond the right-field wall.

But the moment of glory nearly turned into a moment of humiliation for DeWitt, who slipped and nearly fell just as he arrived at home plate.

"I was about to wipe out completely," he said of the moment when he stepped on a home plate that he described as slick. "I caught myself at the last moment."

By then, Ramirez was long gone, banished to the clubhouse for his exaggerated protest. Ramirez had shown similar frustration when called out on strikes in the Dodgers' previous series in San Diego.

"I don't think it's a growing sense of frustration," Torre said. "I think it's him getting back into the competitive mode. I think he's uneasy."

Torre had a similar explanation when talking about why Ramirez was so muted about his 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy.

Of the way Ramirez talked at the news conference he held in San Diego on Friday, Torre said, "He was trying be sort of flippant and be like, 'Everything's fine, everything's fine.' I know damn well he hurt because he hid out from us too."

Perhaps the indifference with which he was met Tuesday will help him. If anything, the signs in the ballpark seemed louder than the fans holding them.

Two young fans from New Jersey in the left-field stands passed out 400 copies of an 8-x-10 sign of Ramirez's No. 99 framed by asterisks. Another fan down the left-field line held up a sign that read "Welcome Back From Maternity Leave," a reference to the female fertility drug prescribed to Ramirez that caused his suspension.

Times staff writer Ben Bolch contributed to this report.

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com