Los Angeles Dodgers teammates Freddie Freeman and Trea Turner remain locked in a battle for the MLB lead in hits this season, but Monday’s series finale against the Miami Marlins saw an accomplishment for the All-Star shortstop.
After Freeman collected singles in his first two at-bats, Turner didn’t get on the board until a base hit to lead off the fifth inning. He then struck out swinging to end the seventh, but helped the Dodgers eventually score the winning run with a check swing that produced an infield single in the 10th inning.
Turner’s soft hit advanced Cody Bellinger to third base, and he then scored when Freeman grounded into a force out. In addition to contributing to the Dodgers taking a decided lead in extra innings, the infield single was also noteworthy on a personal level as it gave Turner 1,000 career hits.
Following the Dodgers’ 3-2 win, Turner said he wished reaching 1,000 hits would have occurred in a different manner but he was proud to reach the benchmark in his home state of Florida and with his parents in attendance, via SportsNet LA:
“I wish it would’ve been a little prettier, but it’s a good milestone. It’s something I was looking forward to because my parents are here. I know my dad’s been counting down, so it was good to get it in front of them. That was nice. Glad I could do that, but hopefully have many more in the tank.”
Turner mentioned he would likely give the baseball to his father and hopes to make better contact on his next hit to view that as the 1,000th of his career:
“No, but it was probably better than my first hit. My first hit was pretty atrocious too. I don’t even think it was a real hit. Hopefully the next one is a line drive somewhere and I can kind of count that one as my 1,000th instead of 1,001. That would be nice.”
Overall this season, Turner has 161 hits to Freeman’s 163. St. Louis Cardinals first baseman and National League MVP frontrunner Paul Goldschmidt is next on the list with 154 hits this season.
Turner led MLB in hits during the 2020 season with 78, and again last year with 195 while also winning the NL batting crown.
Trea Turner, Freddie Freeman vying for MLB history
No matter the order, if Freeman and Turner finish in the top two on the MLB hits leaderboard, they would become the first set of teammates to accomplish the feat since Ichiro Suzuki and Brett Boone for the 2001 Seattle Mariners.
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