In the rubber match of a three-game set with the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field last weekend, the Los Angeles Dodgers cruised to a dominating 12-1 victory behind the bat of Justin Turner.
Turner put on a show at the plate, collecting four hits — including his ninth home run of the season — in five at-bats to go with a team-high five RBI. He reached base five times and increased his on-base plus slugging percentage by 31 points with the performance.
The 33-year-old appears to have turned a corner since returning from the disabled list at the start of August. He entered the month with a .779 OPS and has since raised it to .877 in the matter of 18 games.
Now healthy again, Turner isn’t attributing his previous struggles this season to the multiple injuries he has endured, via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
“I think it’s pretty weak mentally if you blame not having success on an injury,” he said. “The truth is there’s always something. Everyone is dealing with stuff. I’m not the only one out here. I don’t think that’s a reason I didn’t hit earlier.”
Even before his groin injury that kept him sidelined for the better part of July, Turner had missed the first seven weeks of the season after suffering a wrist fracture at the end of Spring Training.
Since being activated from the disabled list for the second time this season, Turner is hitting a ridiculous .391/.481/.696 with seven doubles, one triple, four home runs and 10 RBI over 81 plate appearances (18 games).
Turner credits his recent stretch of success with a tweak he made to his stance during batting practice against the Oakland Athletics last week. He moved his left foot farther away from the plate and feels more comfortable when swinging now, which clearly has translated to results.
