Trea Turner’s all-around brilliance outshined a star-studded pitching matchup Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park.
Turner delivered a two-run, walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Phillies a 3-2 win over the Braves. Turner went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles and a walk to go along with his game-winning single. He also stole two bases and made a handful of excellent defensive plays.
“He did everything tonight,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “That’s the type of player he is.”
Turner’s three hits raised his batting average to an even .300. He leads the National League with 168 hits and is on pace to become the first Phillie since Jimmy Rollins in 2007 to reach 200 hits in a season.
His 10th-inning single on Saturday ranks among his biggest hits of the year.
“I felt pretty good,” Turner said of his game-winning at-bat. “I felt like I saw the first two pitches (foul balls), so I had a pretty good idea of what they looked like. It was just a matter of putting the middle of the bat on the ball and keeping it simple. I got another pitch to hit and found a hole.”
The Phillies’ shortstop was on top of his game defensively as well. That was a necessity as Phillies starter Cristopher Sanchez induced 10 ground-ball outs, six of which went to Turner, including a pair of double plays.
“I told (Sanchez) probably in the fifth inning, you can start striking more people out if you want,” Turner joked. “I feel like I’ve gotten quite a few plays. But he loves it, he’s so positive on the mound. Whether we make a play for him, he’s super excited and the opposite if we make a mistake, he says, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ So we love playing behind him.”
“I was laughing,” Sanchez said through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello of the exchange with Turner. “He was telling me, ‘Strike them all out,’ and I said, ‘You’re my teammate.’ We were just joking. It’s great to see how much he’s improved back there.”
Turner’s defense has been lacking at times during his three seasons with the Phillies. It’s an aspect of his game that he’s worked hard to improve.
“I’ve always felt like I should be a better defender than I was in the past,” Turner said. “I knew I was capable and it wasn’t from a lack of effort or work. It was more just finding the right ways to be consistent.
“I had a college coach who would tell me to just complete every play and that’s kind of always been my goal my entire career, just complete the play. I feel like I’m doing that at a way higher rate and obviously (Phillies infield coach) Bobby (Dickerson) has helped me a ton and the work we’ve put in is paying off in that sense. It feels really good to finally be the defender I thought I should be.”
Turner’s heroics on Saturday helped the Phillies pad their lead in the NL East standings. They have a six-game cushion on the second-place Mets with 26 games remaining. New York lost to the Marlins, 11-8, on Saturday.
The Braves took the lead in the top of the 10th on a one-out single from Nacho Alvarez Jr. off Matt Strahm that scored Jake Fraley, the designated runner at second base.
But the Phillies had an answer, which has become one of the themes of this season. Nick Castellanos was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the 10th inning. After a Harrison Bader strikeout, Bryson Stott hit a bloop single to right field to load the bases.
Brandon Marsh struck out to bring Turner to the plate.
Turner sent the sellout crowd at CBP home happy and gave the Phillies a chance to complete a four-game sweep on Sunday night.
Trea Turner spoke on his walk-off base hit and the Phillies’ mentality after winning three straight against the Braves.
Sanchez and Braves starter Chris Sale were both outstanding on Saturday.
Sanchez brushed aside any lingering concerns following his worst start of the season five days ago against the Mets. He reverted to his typical dominant self against the Braves, allowing just one run in seven innings. Sanchez scattered seven hits, struck out eight and did not issue a walk.
“It was good to have a good result today,” Sanchez said. “That’s how you can tell when pitchers are good (rebounding after a poor start). I’m just happy to have bounced back and happy that we got the win too.”
Sanchez’s command was terrific throughout the night — 71 of his 97 pitches were strikes. He lowered his season ERA to 2.66 in 27 starts.
Sale, meanwhile, was in top form in his first outing in two and a half months. He surrendered one run on three hits across six innings, striking out nine. Sale was activated off the injured list Saturday morning. He had been sidelined since June 18 because of a fractured rib cage.
The Phillies had several chances earlier in the night to take control of the game.
With the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Turner smacked a leadoff double to left field to give the Phillies a prime opportunity to take the lead. Kyle Schwarber moved Turner to third with a groundout to first base. But Bryce Harper then grounded sharply to Atlanta first baseman Matt Olson, who stepped on the bag and threw out Turner at home to complete an inning-ending double play.
The Phillies squandered another golden scoring opportunity in the eighth inning. After Stott drew a one-out pinch-hit walk against Braves right-handed reliever Pierce Johnson, Marsh delivered a pinch-hit single to put runners on the corners with one out.
Johnson struck Turner out looking before Atlanta manager Brian Snitker summoned lefty Dylan Lee to face Schwarber. Lee got Schwarber to line out to right to end the threat.
But all’s well that ends well for the Phillies, who now have the opportunity to move to a season-best 23 games over .500 with a fourth straight win over the Braves on Sunday night.
Kepler injured
Thomson revealed after Saturday’s game that Max Kepler injured his shoulder attempting to make a diving catch during Friday’s game against Atlanta.
Kepler did not play on Saturday and was available only in an emergency. Thomson was unsure if Kepler would be able to play on Sunday.
