Justin Turner jump-starting Boston Red Sox offense in June
Justin Turner had a well-deserved night off for the Boston Red Sox in Monday night’s game against the Minnesota Twins.
The Red Sox offense, even without Turner and highlighted by three doubles from Jarren Duran and a bases-loaded triple by Alex Verdugo, picked up their fifth-straight victory with a 9-3 win over the Twins.
Boston (38-35) is scoring runs again, notching 46 in their last six games, buoyed by the hot-hitting Turner. Turner had an eight-game hitting streak in Sunday’s nightcap win over the New York Yankees. Prior to that 0-4 performance, Turner had been raking, including two home runs and six RBI to kickoff the weekend series.
This torrid stretch is a continuation of Turner’s sizzling June, where he is showing the skills present for the Los Angeles Dodgers all those years.
Turner, Boston Red Sox shaking off swoon
In aiding Boston’s sweep over the Yankees, Turner began with a 5-10 performance in the first two wins. Even with the tough outing in the series finale, Turner is hitting 10-25 with three home runs and eight RBI against the Yankees this season.
All a huge reason the Red Sox are 5-1 against their foes in 2023.
Overall, playing in 69 of Boston’s 73 games, Turner is hitting .277 with 10 HR and 37 RBI in his first season with the Red Sox.
Turner has added 15 doubles and scored 41 runs.
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June has far been Turner’s most-consistent month with the Red Sox. He’s hitting .318 in 16 games in June, going hitless in only four of them. In eight games, Turner has two hits or more, and has four home runs and 16 RBI in the month.
This included a six-game stretch where Turner drove in at least one run.
The strikeouts have also come down for Turner in June. In 66 at-bats, Turner has struck out only nine times (though, perhaps the day off on Monday was really needed, considering three of those came in the nightcap on Sunday).
Turner has been using the entire field and is beginning to love the Green Monster. A highlight was a bases loaded double to help the Red Sox pick up their only win (in seven tries) over the Tampa Bay Rays so far this season.
June has been a kind month to Turner, where signs of life for the veteran slugger showed up at the end of May.
Turning up the heat for Boston Red Sox
Turner, like the Red Sox, was hot-and-cold during the season’s early going. After a solid beginning to the season, picking up seven hits in his first six games with Boston, Turner cooled off. The cold snap lasted a handful of games and his average dropped all the way to .189.
Despite that mini-slump, Turner bounced back. Still, power was missing from the stick and Turner didn’t hit his first home run of the season until April 16.
Slowly but surely, as the weather heats up, so has Turner. He hit two home runs in April, four in May, and already has four with 10 days left in June.
Turner found the consistency at the end of May, going 4-14 in his last three games and ended with eight multi-hit games in the month.
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Maintaining this level for Turner is only a plus as the Red Sox are finding ways to pick up key hits and score runs, backing up some strong starts from Brayan Bello, Garrett Whitlock, and Tanner Houck. And his presence is an aid to Triston Casas, who hit a home run in Monday’s victory as the team continued a scoring binge.
And if Turner and company can keep getting these type of all-around performances, the summer promises to be an exciting one.