Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader between the San Diego Padres and Phillies at Citizens Bank Park was a whirlwind for Trea Turner, indicative of how his first season in Philadelphia has gone.
Saturday afternoon’s game seemingly started out well for Turner. In the bottom of the first inning, he singled into center, before eventually stealing both second and third base. While Padres starter Blake Snell would eventually strike J.T. Realmuto out to end the inning and strand Turner at third base, it still felt like an encouraging inning for the $300 million shortstop.
The top of the second inning was the polar opposite.
With a runner on and two outs, Ranger Suárez induced a ground ball off the bat of San Diego third baseman Matthew Batten that seemingly was going to end the inning. But rather than just throwing the ball for first base for a force out or stepping on second base, Turner flipped the ball around his back to an unprepared Edmundo Sosa at second base who didn’t catch the ball. Sosa should have been prepared to catch the ball, but it’s understandable why he wasn’t. All of Turner’s momentum was taking him towards first base. There were two outs. There was no reason not to just throw the ball to first base.
But Turner’s decision to throw to second base in the fashion that he did extended the inning. And in the next at-bat, Padres center fielder Trent Grisham hit the ball 385 feet, giving San Diego a 3-0 lead:
To their credit, the Phillies would score two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning when Brandon Marsh hit a ball into left field that tailed over the head of Juan Soto, allowing both Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm to score.
An inning later, Kyle Schwarber tied the game with his 23rd home run of the year, a leadoff blast that traveled 440 feet:
But the tie was short-lived, as Manny Machado connected on his 300th career home run to lead off the top of the eighth inning, with Matt Strahm surrendering the second-deck shot:
However, the Phillies once again battled back in the bottom of the eighth inning, with a pinch-hitting Bryce Harper, Schwarber and Turner each delivering RBI singles off of Padres reliever Tim Hill, giving the Phillies a 6-4 lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. Despite walking Grisham and Soto in the ninth, Craig Kimbrel ultimately retired Kim, Tatis and Machado to wrap up the victory.
Turner’s odd play in the field will still be discussed between doubleheader games, but his RBI in the eighth helped assure that the blunder didn’t end up costing the Phillies their 49th win of the season.
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