Dodgers clinch playoff spot as Justin Turner hits two home runs
SAN DIEGO — They have completed the first step – like correctly filling out your name on the SAT.
The Dodgers clinched a postseason berth for the 10th consecutive season Sunday afternoon, doing it in well-worn fashion by beating the San Diego Padres 11-2 behind a two-homer, five-RBI day from Justin Turner.
The win cut the Dodgers’ magic number to clinch their ninth National League West title in that time down to two with 23 games left in the regular season. The second-place Padres are off Monday, so the Dodgers can’t secure the division before Tuesday, when they play in Arizona.
“I don’t think it’s anything you can take for granted,” Turner said of the postseason berth. “I’ve been on some teams early in my career that didn’t have this opportunity. So definitely fortunate to be a part of my organization that cares about winning.
“We got everyone together and Dave (Roberts) gave` a short little toast. Just enjoy this one a little bit and we still have a lot of work to do in front of us.”
The toast and hats with the postseason logo on the side were the only outward signs in the Dodgers’ post-game clubhouse that Sunday’s victory meant anything more than the 95 that preceded it this year.
“I don’t think it’s going to be ho-hum when we win the division,” Freddie Freeman said. “That’s special. Whenever you win a division, that’s special and you celebrate that. Postseason berth may be a little different. But in a couple days hopefully we’ll be a little bit more going crazy.”
For Andrew Heaney, being on a team headed to the postseason was meaningful.
“This is the first time I’ve ever been on a playoff team,” he said after allowing just two runs (and only one home run) in five innings Sunday. “I was joking with some guys, it’s ho-hum for them. But I was like, ‘This a big deal for me.’
“Last year was tough for me. Got optioned then DFA’d a couple days before the end of the season. I watched the Yankees celebrate, pop champagne. I was sitting in a hotel room by myself. That was a pretty low point for me. So now to be on a team like this and hopefully be contributing to it, trying to hold my weight and do what I can to help us win — this is something that I relish, for sure.”
Paper tigers pumped up as threats to the Dodgers’ regaining control of the division this season, the Padres are now 20 games back of Los Angeles, and have lost eight consecutive series against their neighbors to the north and 21 of the past 25 head-to-head meetings.
Considered a strength, the Padres’ starting pitching has let them down over the past month, posting a 4.91 ERA in their past 27 games through Sunday — a stretch during which they have been fairly mediocre (14-13).
Right-hander Joe Musgrove did breeze through the first four innings against the Dodgers, allowing just a pair of singles to Freeman (15 for his past 30).
But an old slight came back to haunt Musgrove.
After giving up two home runs to Justin Turner in a 3-1 loss at Dodger Stadium on June 30, Musgrove offered up the opinion that he did not consider Turner “a huge threat.”
“Out of all the guys in the (Dodgers’) lineup, I didn’t feel like he was a huge threat,” Musgrove said after that game.
His opinion might have evolved since then.
Turner and Chris Taylor each hit solo home runs off Musgrove in the fifth inning Sunday, erasing an early 2-0 Padres lead.
In the dugout after his homer, Turner’s teammates reminded him of Musgrove’s “not a threat” scouting report.
“I think he might want to retract that,” Roberts said. “I didn’t hear that. I don’t remember that one. But I certainly see him and value him as a threat in our lineup.”
In the sixth, Mookie Betts led off with a double, Freeman was intentionally walked and Musgrove hit Will Smith with a pitch to load the bases with one out. Back in the lineup after getting a cortisone injection in his sore left knee and missing the first two games of the series, Max Muncy gave the Dodgers the lead with a two-run single. That ended Musgrove’s day before he could face Turner again.
In the seventh, the Dodgers broke the game open with a six-run inning — their major league-leading 19th inning of five or more runs.
Turner had the big hit in that one, his second homer of the day and second grand slam of his career (off reliever Craig Stammen).
Since his two-homer game off Musgrove to end June, Turner has hit .371 (59 for 159) with 40 RBI in 44 games, nine home runs and an OPS over 1.000.
Just a coincidence?
“I’m not worried about what’s going on over there. I’m worried about our guys in here and winning ballgames,” Turner said.
“I mean, yeah, I think it is coincidence. Otherwise, I’d have asked people to say stuff about me a lot sooner in the year and I’d have a lot better season going. Like I said, I don’t pay attention to what’s going on in other people’s houses. Just worry about our business, take care of our stuff in here.”
Hard work in the batting cage on his swing had a lot more to do with Turner’s turnaround after a slow start than any inadvertent motivational speaking by an opponent, he said.
“There’s probably a million different things that go into it,” Turner said. “There’s a lot of stuff that goes into hitting, so it’s hard to put your finger on one thing. But just at-bats, confidence and results kind of helped feed that. But trust in the process and going through all the work and knowing things were going to come around is really the key.
“I don’t know, if you look to the naked eye, if you’ve seen much of a change. But there’s definitely different feels going on, different plans, different approaches against guys. Being able to end at-bats when they should be ended has been good.”