It was tough to tell what was more lethargic Wednesday night.

The mind-numbing pace of a 3-hour, 23-minute game at Dodger Stadium.

Or the head-scratching performance of the Dodgers’ offense after a four-run first-inning outburst.

After surging in front with a quick four-spot against debuting Arizona Diamondbacks starter Cristian Mena, the Dodgers’ bats came to a screeching halt in their 12-4 loss at Chavez Ravine, with the team’s muted play mirroring the slow, meandering rhythm of their second-longest nine-inning game of the season.

The night couldn’t have started better for the Dodgers.

With originally scheduled Diamondbacks starter Jordan Montgomery out with a knee injury, Arizona turned to Mena, a rookie right-hander, for his MLB debut.

His big-league welcome: A first-inning blitz from the top of the Dodgers order.

Shohei Ohtani singled. Will Smith walked. Then, Freddie Freeman and Tesocar Hernández blasted back-to-back home runs, answering Arizona’s opening run in the top half of the inning to jump out to a sudden 4-1 lead.

With breakout rookie pitcher Gavin Stone on the bump, and the Diamondbacks seemingly staring down a long night on the mound, all the pieces appeared to be in place for the Dodgers to cruise to a rout.

Instead, they squandered the early advantage without much of their typical fight.

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