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ST. LOUIS -- On the hottest trip of the season so far, Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner has delivered production to match the weather. From the blistering desert, to the muggy nation’s capital, to the steamy Gateway, (back) to the West, the Dodgers have opened the second half on a cross-country journey that could be called the Justin Turner Tour of America. Evidence of Turner’s offensive explosiveness actually started before the All-Star break, but not even four days of downtime could derail it. Turner has hit five home runs in the first eight games of the second half, through the Dodgers’ 7-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday. He is batting .378 (14-for-37) with 14 RBIs since the second half started. Going back to June 10, the production really gets impressive. In that time frame, he leads the National League with 14 home runs and 38 RBIs. From June 10 through Friday’s action, he was third in slugging percentage (.690), tied for fourth in hits (47) and fifth in runs scored (25). Turner already has 18 home runs this season, surpassing his previous season high of 16 set in 126 games last season. “I’m definitely feeling comfortable again,” said Turner, who had microfracture knee surgery in the offseason. “I felt comfortable all year. I don’t know what was going on those first two months. But yeah, I feel good, I feel comfortable, and I’m getting better results. The first two months, I feel like I was taking good at-bats, hitting balls hard and not having anything to show for it.”  Since joining the Dodgers before the 2014 season, Turner has been known for streaky production, countering stretches of carrying the team with slumps of varying lengths. This season, though, has been one big pendulum swing from a lack of production in April and May to his blistering current run.
In fact, this run has gone on for so long that his teammates think Turner has finally figured out a way to keep the good times rolling for good. “It’s almost like it isn’t a hot streak anymore, this is just who JT is,” catcher A.J. Ellis said. “JT is a middle-of-the-order guy all across baseball. This guy has been huge for us, not just offensively, but what he does defensively and what he does as a leader on this team. JT has definitely been our MVP, him and Corey [Seager].” There are more signs of Turner’s brilliance this year, such as the fact that 14 of his 18 home runs have either tied the game or given the Dodgers the lead. Only two players in all of baseball (Mark Trumbo and Todd Frazier) have more such home runs. After hitting only three homers over the first two months of the season, Turner has 15 since the start of June, second-most in baseball. But there are signs that could point to adjustments ahead from opposing pitchers. Turner’s midseason run has come from being aggressive at the plate. His April/May swing percentage was 42 percent, but it has been 45 percent since. And his chase percentage of 19 percent in the first two months has increased to 26 percent since. The aggressiveness has helped. His April/May batting average was .239, with a .343 slugging percentage; in June and July, he’s hitting .300 and slugging .629. Turner, 31, has been a late bloomer not only this season but also in his career. Now he’ll try to maintain it long term. “Yeah, I think I also classify him as a late bloomer, or getting an opportunity and seizing it, which he has obviously done,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And understanding your swing, the pitchers, and he is a very bright player, a heady guy. I think all of those components will allow him to sustain where he’s at.” Turner has always had a high leg kick at the start of his swing, but his turnaround this year has been more than just adjusting that part of the process. “The timing feels good and I’m seeing the ball good,” he said. “I don’t think much is different from the first two months other than finding some holes and the ball is getting down. Once you get one or two hits a series, you obviously feel better about yourself, and it’s easier to get hits that way. When you find yourself 0-for-3, 0-for-4 in the first two games, you’re scratching trying to find out how to get a hit in the third game, and that pressure really builds up, and it builds up on everyone.” In Sunday’s series finale at St. Louis, Turner figures to be playing it free and easy at the plate. He had a home run among his two hits Friday night and a two-run double among his two hits Saturday. And he isn’t alone. Howie Kendrick is hot, too, with a 15-game hit streak, while Seager and Adrian Gonzalez have made their fair share of recent contributions. Gonzalez homered Saturday. Since losing Clayton Kershaw on June 26, the Dodgers' offense has responded to lead the majors in runs and land in the top 10 in runs per game. They were 21st before their ace was forced to step away. Sure, the Dodgers struggled to score runs in the late innings Friday, but they righted themselves Saturday with a seven-run, 13-hit attack. Where the offensive downward trends lasted for a series (or for weeks) earlier in the year, they last no more than a day or two now. “I think that offensively, as a team, we’re trending in the right direction,” Roberts said. “It’s about knowing you can win baseball games when you’re not playing your best, and I think we’re starting to get to that point where you can minimize a losing streak.” Friday’s 16-inning defeat was a heartbreaker, but the Dodgers made Saturday’s victory look easy. Now they have a chance to win their second consecutive series of this road trip when they take the field for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. “You can lose a tough one but still bounce back and be resilient, as people talk about,” Roberts said. “But I think our focus has just been much better on the day-to-day, and if we can continue that, we’ll be OK.”
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