Trea Turner had a terrible night in the field Monday night, extending a season of defensive struggles that already featured 14 errors.
But he made up for it in a big way at the plate to lead the Philadelphia Phillies in a 10-7 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers
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Turner was charged with one error on the night, but could have easily been credited with four. He countered with 2 home runs, 1 double and 5 RBI in a 3-for-5 night at the plate to get the once-booing Philadelphia fans back in his corner.
Early error draws Philly boo birds
Turner’s night got off to an inauspicious start. With Cristopher Sánchez making his first start since starting the All-Star Game, Turner allowed the Dodgers to load the bases with a two-out error in the top of the first inning.
He failed to cleanly field a Mookie Betts ground ball, and his throw to first was late. His 15th error of the season tied him for the MLB lead and prompted boos from the home fans.
Thankfully for Turner and the Phillies, Sánchez got out of the inning unscathed.
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Turner quickly found his way back into Philly fans’ good graces. Turner doubled a 2-0 Phillies lead in the second inning with a two-home run that got the home fans off their collective feet.
At that point, Turner had a double, a home run and one error on the night. But he wasn’t yet free from the ire of Phillies fans.
With Sánchez out of the game and the Dodgers threatening to rally in the sixth, Turner misplayed another ball that should have counted for the third out of the frame. Instead, it allowed Teoscar Hernández to score and cut Philadelphia’s lead to 4-3.
The official scorer in Philadelphia credited Andy Pages with a dubious base hit. But fans in the stands knew what they had seen and pelted Turner with more boos. It was the third misplay of his night after a previous ball that also could have easily been scored an error was called a hit.
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But once again, Turner responded with an emphatic answer. With two men on in the bottom of the sixth, Turner blew open a 5-3 Philadelphia lead to 8-3 with a three run blast that hit the left field foul pole.
The home run was the 200th of his career.
But the game wasn’t quite out of reach for the Dodgers. A pair of Betts home runs helped the Dodgers close the gap to 10-7 by the ninth inning. The same bottom of the ninth inning that featured Betts’ second home run also featured another misplay by Turner that was ruled a base hit.
If you’re counting, that’s four misplays in the field and one error. But in a fitting coda to the game, Turner cleanly fielded a Hernández ground ball and delivered it to first base for the final out.
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