A series of fortunate events.
Justin Turner hit a pair of homers as the Los Angeles Dodgers took the rubber match of their three-game series with the San Diego Padres, 6-4, on Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers have not lost a series since June 5-7 when they dropped two-of-three to the Washington Nationals. Since that time, L.A. is 16-0-3 over their last 19 series.
Los Angeles needed just one inning to hand the Padres their 66th loss of the season as the Dodgers hung five on San Diego in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Justin Turner hit his first of two home runs in the game when he sent a four-seam fastball into the seats in right-center to put the Dodgers in front, 3-2.
"Usually the second and third time through the lineup we tend to have a little more success," said Turner of the team's ability to break through after three innings without a hit. "That's how it went today. The second time through we got to him [Perdomo] pretty good."
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Three batters later, Yasmani Grandal sent a first-pitch changeup to right-center for his 15h homer of the season, capping off the five-run inning.
"He threw me a changeup and missed more towards the middle," Grandal said of his home run. "I had an idea he was going to throw something soft. I was able to put a good swing on it. That's pretty much it."
Grandal has now hit 15 homers or more in four consecutive seasons and is batting .340 at home since July 4.
Corey Spangenberg provided most of the power for the Padres as he also hit two home runs in the game.
Spangenberg put the Padres on the board in the first inning with a solo shot to right-center.
Cory Spangenberg hits a solo home run for his 9th home run of the season!!! #LetsGoPadres pic.twitter.com/G1PzumLabD— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB_) August 13, 2017
The left-hand hitting third baseman wasn't finished as he hit his second home run off Dodgers' starter Kenta Maeda in the top of the 6th to cut the lead to 5-4.
Cory Spangenberg belts a two-run homer to left in the 6th for his second long ball of the day and trims the Padres' deficit to one run!!! pic.twitter.com/AagACeiAVJ— TheRenderMLB (@TheRenderMLB_) August 13, 2017
Spangenberg finished the game 2-for-4 with three RBI, two home runs and two runs scored. It was his third career multi-homer game and second of the season.
Maeda (11-4) hung on for the win, allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in 5 and 1/3 innings.
The Japanese right-hander has won his last seven home starts, joining an exclusive club consisting of Zack Greinke (2015), Clayton Kershaw (2011), Kevin Brown (2003) and Ramon Martinez (1990) as Dodger pitchers to win at least seven consecutive starts at Dodger Stadium in the past 40 years.
Maeda improved to 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA since the All-Star Break and has struck out 27 batters compared to just six walks.
Perdomo (6-7) took the loss, allowing five runs, on four hits, with one walk and one strikeout in six innings of work.
Turner did a discount double-check when he added an insurance run when he hit his second home run of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning off Jose Valdez.
It was the seventh career multi-homer game for Turner and third of the season as third baseman continues to lead the National League in hitting with a .346 batting average.
"I'm just trying to take good at-bats and hit balls hard," said Turner of his second multi-homer game in the last week. "One of them was in Arizona, where the ball flies really well, and the other one was at Dodger Stadium during a day game. When it's daytime here, if you get it up in the air, it's got a pretty good chance of getting out of here."
Kenley Jansen earned his second consecutive save against San Diego, giving him 32 on the season.
Dodger hitters stuck out only two times in the entire game, a new season-low.
The Dodgers are 34-16 against the Padres since 2015, the third best record against a divisional opponent in all of baseball over that span.
The Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies both lost on Sunday so the Dodgers extend their lead in the National League West to a season-high 18 games. That's the largest lead (division or league) in franchise history.
Up Next:
The Dodgers will have a day off on Monday before welcoming the Chicago White Sox for a two-game Interleague series starting on Tuesday. RHP Miguel Gonzalez goes for Chicago opposite Alex Wood. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10PM PST.
