The Los Angeles Dodgers began their series against the San Diego Padres with a 3-1 win behind Justin Turner providing all the scoring with two home runs.
Turner’s solo homer off Joe Musgrove tied the game in the second inning, and his two-run shot in the seventh gave the Dodgers a decided lead. While the homers off Musgrove proved to be the difference, the Padres’ starter was dismissive of Turner.
“I don’t know what his numbers are against me. When he’s in the box, I don’t feel like he’s a huge threat,” Musgrove told reporters after the game. “He’s a good hitter, he’s done a lot of damage to the teams I’ve been on in the past.
“But out of all the guys in the lineup, I didn’t feel like he was a huge threat. I just didn’t execute pitches very well and he put good swings on them.”
Turner continued his hot hitting and slugged another homer on Saturday, but chose not to get involved in trading barbs with Musgrove.
“I’m not going to answer that,” Turner responded when asked if he wished to respond to Musgrove. “I’m not going to get into that. Just, whatever.”
Turner over his career is 5-for-12 (.417 batting average) with two home runs, four RBI and a 1.417 on-base plus slugging percentage against Musgrove.
Turner found better feeling
Having dealt with inconsistency throughout much of the season thus far, Turner said work last week with Dodgers hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc unlocked a better feel.
“Been grinding through some stuff and feeling like I’ve been getting pretty close to breaking out. Getting results felt pretty good,” Turner said during the Padres series.
“It’s good to get results. I’m not going up there trying to hit homers. I’m trying to put together a good at-bat and hit the ball hard somewhere. Got a couple pretty good that went over the fence.”
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