Trea Turner provided a spark for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the sixth inning on Saturday night with a two-run home run off Cincinnati Reds rookie Hunter Greene to break up a scoreless tie and give him two hits in the game.
“He was tough. He’s basically sitting 101 (mph) every pitch. He’s good, he’s got a lot of ability. Watching video, I think we all knew it was going to kind of be a dogfight,” Turner said.
“He throws a lot of strikes, too, for how hard he throws. He wasn’t really going to give us anything, so we had to earn it. … I was just trying to relax and not do too much. Most of the times when you see 100 (mph), you want to do more and gear up and get ready for it.
“That mentality sometimes makes it a little tough, so just tried to do less and put the barrel on the ball. Got to a good pitch and it ended up where I wanted it to. But it was a good pitch by him. I guess that’s baseball.”
Turner, who was in the leadoff spot of the Dodgers lineup due to Mookie Betts receiving a night off for rest, opened the bottom of the first by legging out an infield single. That extended his career-best hitting streak to 27 games.
The stretch dates back to the 2021 season, during which Turner won the National League batting title.
“I didn’t realize it until maybe a day or two ago,” Turner said of his hitting streak. “Somebody asked me about it, and it kind of feels weird saying there’s a 20-something game hitting streak when you take a five-month break.
“But I guess that’s how it works, so I’ll take it. You just keep battling, try to get those hits and get on base for the guys behind me.”
Through play Sunday, Turner has hit safely in 54 of 61 regular season games since being traded to the Dodgers. His early success this season has already started rumblings of being an NL MVP candidate.
“I think steady is a good way to put it. I didn’t realize that hitting streak. Wow, it’s pretty impressive,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Turner. “It does seem like he’s always doing something every night to help us win a baseball game; whether it be with the bat or playing defense.
“It is nice when you can run and create some hits too. I just think he’s doing a nice job of staying above water. He has a nice hitting streak going on, but when he gets hot it’s going to be real fun.”
Turner among longest Dodgers hitting streaks
Turner continued to make progress on catching Willie Davis for the longest hitting streak in L.A. Dodgers franchise history at 33 games, which he set during the 1969 season. Only Andre Ethier (30 games) was between Turner and Davis on the longest Dodgers hitting streaks since 1958.
Duke Snider (1953) and Joe Medwick (1942) both strung together 27-game hitting streaks during their respective careers with Brooklyn.
Paul Lo Duca (2003), Steve Sax (1986) and Davis (1971) each had 25-game hitting streaks with L.A.
Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
