Although the Los Angeles Dodgers pitching staff, outside of Clayton Kershaw, has taken the brunt of the blame for the club’s struggles this season, a lack of consistent offensive production has been the primary reason for several losses.
That in large part is correlated to Adrian Gonzalez, Howie Kendrick and Justin Turner, noted steady batters, going through prolonged slumps. All three showed signs of improvement at various times recently, but none of them have yet to truly hit their stride.
Gonzalez wasn’t in Friday’s lineup as he continued to recover from back soreness that’s kept him out of action since he was removed from Monday’s game.
Kendrick and Turner went a combined 2-for-9 in the Dodgers’ walk-off loss, with Turner also drawing one walk and his lone hit proving key at the time.
After Carl Crawford kept the eighth inning alive with a two-out pinch-hit single, Turner lined a 2-0 pitch over the right field fence for a go-ahead home run:
The home run was Turner’s second in 40 games played. Turner is hitting .234/.323/.336 on the season, and has hit safely in three of the past five games. Turner batted .294/.370/.491 with 26 doubles, 16 home runs and 60 RBIs over a career-high 126 games last season.
