LOS ANGELES — Few Los Angeles Dodgers batters swooned in June more dramatically than Justin Turner, who hit .209 with no homers and eight RBIs in his first 24 games of the month, but that didn’t shake manager Dave Roberts’ confidence in the veteran third baseman.
Roberts kept plugging Turner into the middle of the order because of his ability to produce in the clutch, citing Turner’s 38 RBIs, fourth-most on the team, and .286 average with runners in scoring position entering Thursday night.
That faith was rewarded in the opener of a four-game series against the National League West-rival San Diego Padres when Turner hit two home runs, including a tiebreaking two-run shot in the seventh inning, to lead the Dodgers to a 3-1 victory before a sellout crowd of 53,094 in Chavez Ravine.
Turner followed a one-out walk to Max Muncy in the seventh by driving a 1-and-1 cut-fastball from Padres ace Joe Musgrove over the right-center field wall for his 13th career multi-homer game and a 3-1 lead.
Dodgers left-hander Justin Bruihl, right-hander Evan Phillips and left-hander Alex Vesia combined for 3 1/3 scoreless, one-hit innings in relief of starter Mitch White, and closer Craig Kimbrel struck out two of three in a perfect ninth for his 14th save.
The Dodgers and Padres had played each other only three times this season before Thursday night, but the first-place Dodgers never had to look too far to spot their division rivals.
The Padres (46-32) have been nipping at their heels for months and are only 21/2 games back despite playing the entire season without star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr., who fractured his left wrist in a winter motorcycle accident and isn’t expected back until late-July.
“It’s remarkable,” Roberts said of San Diego’s success without Tatis, who hit .282 with 42 homers and 97 RBIs in 2021. “I have a lot of respect for those guys. I think they can really pitch. That’s certainly something that stands out.”
Indeed, the Padres have a major league-leading 42 quality starts, including Musgrove’s seven-inning, three-run effort Thursday night, and the fifth-best rotation ERA (3.49) in baseball.
San Diego staked Musgrave to a 1-0 lead in the first when Manny Machado, who missed the previous nine games because of a left-ankle injury, double to left field and scored on Nomar Mazara’s two-out RBI single to right-center.
The Padres threatened again in the second when they loaded the bases with one out on Trent Grisham’s single, Ha-Seong Kim’s walk and C.J. Abrams’ bunt single.
Grisham tagged on Jurickson Profar’s fly ball to medium right, but Chris Taylor rifled a 96.3-mph one-hop throw to the plate, and catcher Will Smith made a nice scoop-and-swipe of a tag to nail Grisham to end the inning. According to Statcast, it was the Dodgers’ fastest-tracked outfield assist since the start of 2020.
The Dodgers tied the score 1-1 in the second when Turner drove a 92-mph fastball from Musgrove over the wall in left-center for a solo homer, his first homer since May 18.
White ran into more trouble in the fifth when Profar slapped a one-out double to left and took third on a wild pitch. But White struck out Machado with an 85-mph slider, and Bruihl came on to whiff Jake Cronenworth with an 88-mph slider up in the zone.
The Dodgers got some good news before the game when they learned the timetable for the return of Mookie Betts from a right rib-fracture was moved up by a week to 10 days.
The right fielder took batting practice, played catch and took grounders at second base Thursday afternoon. The team initially thought Betts would return close to the All-Star break. But after conferring with Betts, Roberts said the dynamic leadoff man could return by early next week.
“It’s going to be (dictated by) his pain tolerance,” Roberts said. “Talking to the doctors and trainers, it’s one of those things where you have to kind of deal with the discomfort, but there’s nothing that should potentially make it worse.”
Roberts said Betts, who is batting .273 with 17 homers and 40 RBIs in 60 games, will not need a minor league rehabilitation stint, and that when he returns, it will be in the leadoff spot, pushing Trea Turner back to the third spot.
Throwing causes more discomfort than swinging a bat, so Betts could return at second base, a position he has made 20 career starts at, six with the Dodgers.
“He’s on record as saying he doesn’t really love the designated hitter,” Roberts said. “So if there’s a way to get him in the lineup, and it’s second base, we’ll move pieces around. The arm stroke, the short throw from second, the potential turning of the double play is different than really stretching it out.”
