Steve Webb
CHAVEZ RAVINE, CA — Trea got the bobblehead, but JT got the dingers. On a night that fans were treated to a nifty bobblehead likeness of Trea Turner‘s popup slide, it was the other Turner who will get the headlines. Turning back the clock, Justin Turner delivered a vintage JT performance, going 3-for-3 with two home runs, almost singlehandedly beating Joe Musgrove and the Padres in the Dodgers’ 3-1 victory on Thursday night.
Padres get on the board early
On paper, the pitching matchup was a bit of a mismatch. Likely All-Star Joe Musgrove started for the Padres, and starting for the Dodgers was Mitch White, the sometime starter who’s been thrown into emergency service due to injuries to Andrew Heaney and Walker Buehler. And on a night that runs were going to be at a premium, White almost immediately fell behind. After getting one out in the top of the first, White toed the rubber to face Manny Machado, returning to the lineup as a DH for the first time in over a week.
Machado was greeted by the usual chorus of boos by the Dodger faithful (Dodger fans’ disdain for Machado will always perplex me), but wasted no time in impacting the game. He hit a fly ball to left, and Gavin Lux dove to make a catch. The ball evaded his glove and Machado was on base with a double. Lux is playing better out there in the outfield, but perhaps a more experienced hand might have made the play. After Jake Cronenworth flew out for the second out of the inning, White was on the verge of getting out of the frame unscathed. Unfortunately, new Padre Nomar Mazara had other ideas. The journeyman outfield banged a single into the gap in right center and Machado was easily able to score on the play. Just like that, it was 1-0 Padres.
Taylor with a huge play in the second
Spotting the Padres a run was bad enough, but it could have been a whole lot worse. After Joe Musgrove threw a 1-2-3 first, the Padres got a huge threat going in the top of the second. After the first out, White surrendered a single, a walk, and bunt single to load up the bases. With the top of the order coming to the plate, it would take nothing less than perfection to get out of the inning without giving up a run.
And perfection they got, Jurickson Profar hit a fly ball to right that was medium deep. As the ball flew threw the air, Dodger fans were already calculating the odds of coming back from a 2-0 deficit. Right fielder Chris Taylor caught the ball and Trent Grisham tagged up and broke for home. Then, in one fluid movement, Taylor delivered an absolute one-hop strike to Will Smith, who applied the tag just before Grisham reached the plate. Inning over. It was a thing of beauty.
The JT show…
The rest of the evening belonged to third baseman Justin Turner. In the bottom of the second, the Dodger veteran blasted a solo shot into the center field home run seats. No nacho splashdown this time, but a big homer nevertheless, as it got the Dodgers back to even in the game.
Then, after the teams traded zeroes for four innings, Turner broke the 1-1 tie in the seventh. Max Muncy was able to work a one-out walk off Musgrove, perhaps a sign that the Padres ace was starting to wear out a bit after a fantastic night. That brought JT to the plate once again. And once again, Turner came through.
On a 1-1 count, Musgrove threw a cutter that caught way too much of the plate, and Turner made him pay dearly. He walloped the ball to right center, and it landed two or three rows into the seats for his second homer of the night. It was a throwback to 2017 clutch Justin Turner, and it was glorious. The Dodgers were up 3-1 and there it would stay for the rest of the night.
“We’ve said all along that Justin is a guy who in big spots, big moments, knows how to drive in a run,” manager Dave Roberts said in postgame interviews. “This was a big game, and he rose to the occasion like we’ve seen many times before. That’s as good a swing as I’ve seen him take this year, going to the big part of the field late at night for a home run.”
Turner, for his part acknowledged that much of 2022 has been a struggle, but felt that he was getting closer. “Yeah, obviously I haven’t felt great, but you still show up every day and play the game and try to find ways to help our team win ballgames,” Turner said. “Eventually, you feel like it’s gonna click, and tonight, I got good results.”
White and the pen outpitch Musgrove
Mitch White didn’t get the win in this one, but he did what he needed to do. He kept the Dodgers in the game until the fifth inning when he turned it over to the bullpen. It wasn’t the most efficient of outings — he probably used a lot more pitches than he would have liked, using 80 pitches through 4.2 innings. But, he the young righty got plenty of help from his defense and left the field with the Dodgers tied on the scoreboard. Can’t ask much more than that.
Once the game was in the hands of the bullpen, the Padres were cooked for the night. Justin Briuhl was first out of the chute, getting White out of the fifth, and pitching a scoreless sixth. Then, Evan Phillips looked awesome in a 1-2-3 seventh. On any other team, Phillips would be a All Star candidate. We’ll see if he gets any love from the selection committee this year.
Alex Vesia came on with one out in the eighth. After a strikeout, he gave up a single and walked pinch hitter Luke Voigt after a long at-bat, and it looked like the Padres might have something going. However, Vesia induced an inning-ending ground ball off the bat of Aaron Nola to escape the jam. Craig Kimbrel looked like a closer in a sharp 1-2-3 ninth inning to secure the victory.
Caturday on Friday night
This four-game series moves on throughout the weekend. Tony Gonsolin and his gaudy 1.58 ERA take the mound on Friday night as the Dodgers try to make it two in a row over the Padres. Our World Series nemesis Blake Snell gets the ball for the Padres. Snell has really struggled this year, with an ERA north of 5.00, so it will be interesting to see what the Dodgers can muster against him. 7:10 first pitch.
Cans of Corn…
- JT had several nice picks at third in this one as well, hopefully a sign of better play as the summer progresses.
- Dodgers struck out ten times against Musgrove, twelve in all. Not great.
- Jake Lamb had a thrilling triple in the game, but was left stranded at third.
- Can’t say enough about Evan Phillips and how dominant he was in this one.
- Mookie Betts was taking batting practice before the game. Good sign of an earlier-than-expected return.
- Doc says Mookie might play a little second or DH at first to keep him from exerting his arm too much as he heals completely from the cracked rib.
- Dodgers finish June at 14-12. Not great, but could have been worse. They ended the month winning 7 of 10.
