After scoring a combined six runs in their three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals, which resulted in them getting swept, the Los Angeles Dodgers bounced back in the form of an 11-run outburst against the San Diego Padres on Friday.
The club was backed by a trio of home runs in addition to faring much better with runners in scoring position. The Dodgers went 5-for-13 in that department — a notable improvement from their combined 3-for-23 showing against the Cardinals.
Justin Turner was especially relieved that the club was able to cash in on their opportunities with runners in scoring position and believes further success will stem from hitters simply relaxing more at the plate, per Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“A lot has been said about hitting with runners in scoring position, so it was good to get that off our back early and hopefully we can settle down and relax and continue to take good at-bats in those situations. Offense is contagious. All year long, when it goes good early, it goes really good. When opportunities are lost early, it seems to build up and that anticipation or anxiety of those at-bats as the game goes on instead of just shrugging it off. It’s something most guys in here are aware that we have to do a better job. But I don’t think the recipe is to try harder. It’s to relax and not try to do as much.”
As Turner points out, the Dodgers set the tone with good at-bats in the first couple of innings. That particularly held true in the second frame, when Los Angeles scored three runs via a trio of clutch hits from Cody Bellinger, Brian Dozier and Turner with runners in scoring position.
For Turner himself, he went 2-for-5 in the contest with one home run and a team-high three RBI. He continues to shine in the month of August, where he’s hitting an absurd .392/.477/.716 with seven doubles, one triple, five homers and 13 RBI over 86 plate appearances (19 games).
