Take your pick: hot, red hot, white hot, blazing hot, smoking hot. But whichever adjective you choose, just be sure that it precedes the noun Justin Turner who, on Friday night, was hotter than the postgame fireworks at Dodger Stadium.

In a game that played out much more difficult than it should have for the Dodgers, Turner was the only real offense the Dodgers would get … and need. Oh sure, it’s impossible to ignore the outstanding pitching performances by Dodgers 19-year-old left-handed phenom Julio Urias, who allowed no runs on five hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in his 5.0 innings of work, and that of Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Zach Davies, who was equally as efficient allowing only one run on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts in his seven innings pitched. But simply put, this night belonged to Justin Turner.

With his pitch-count limit having already been announced at 80 to 100 before the game by manager Dave Roberts, the Dodgers were well aware that if they were going to get Urias his first MLB win (in five tries), they would have to get on the board fast, as the young lefty had yet to get past the fifth inning in his previous four pitch-limited starts. But as it turned out, the Dodgers offensive woes immediately returned after Turner hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning. Granted, it was a monster shot – one that bounced on the walkway halfway up the Left Field Pavilion – but that was it in the way of run support for the hard-throwing Culiacan, Mexico native.

“It’s what we understand the situation with a 19-year-old kid and you’re mindful that winning is of high importance here at this level, but as an organization we’re really hypersensitive to his usage,” said Roberts about pulling Urias after five innings and 85 pitches. “He threw the ball well and we want him to feel good about his outing, which I think he did. He’s been, I think, the only starter in our rotation who’s been on regular rest and we’ve pushed other guys back a day at certain times, but with Julio I’ve got to be very aware of that.”

Although Urias has pitched well enough to win four of his five MLB starts, he may not get the opportunity to do so while he remains on a very strict pitch count. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said that the young left-hander may only get two more starts with rehabbing Dodgers Brandon McCarthy and/or Hyun-jin Ryu expected to soon return to the Dodgers starting rotation.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Although Urias left the game having met the requisite five innings to qualify for his first MLB win with his team up 1-0 when he was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the fifth, his one-run lead and potential first MLB win were short lived. Unfortunately for Urias, the bottom of the fifth inning was one of only two on the night in which Turner was not involved in scoring or driving in a Dodger run and Urias’ precarious 1-0 lead was quickly erased when his replacement, side-arm-throwing right-hander Louis Coleman, allowed back-to-back doubles to Ryan Braun and Jonathan Lucroy to lead off the top of the sixth inning. The Brewers would tack on another run on an RBI single by Brewers second baseman Scooter Ginnett before Coleman could record an out and just like that Urias’ brilliant performance went down the drain.

But as quickly as Turner’s first-inning home run had given Dodger fans a ray of hope that their team’s ice cold offense may be heating up, it went right back into the freezer when Davies held the Dodgers to only four hits after the Turner jack. But with the hard-throwing right-hander now out of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, Turner deposited right-hander Tyler Thornburg’s 79-MPH curveball on a 3-2 count with two outs into the back of the Dodgers bullpen for his second solo home run of the night and his fifth in his last 10 games to tie the game at 2-2.

“JT’s a grinder … it was a big night for JT obviously,” Roberts told reporters after the game. “He’s come-on over the last two weeks and really squaring the baseball up. Just the at-bat quality has been consistent. He’s starting to show some fruits into results and so for him to have that huge night was a big lift for all of us.”

But the Dodgers offense stalled yet again after Turner’s second home run of the night and his first multi-home-run game since September 23, 2014 against the hated Giants at Dodger Stadium, and the third of his career.

…until the bottom of the 10th inning, that is.

Dodgers newcomer Will Venable, who was still looking for his first hit with his new team having gone 0 for 5 in his previous six plate appearances as a Dodger (he was hit by a pitch earlier in the game), ripped a ground rule double down the right field line to lead off the 10th inning and put the potential winning run in scoring position. And while you would think that this would be great news for Dodger fans, they know all too well that having runners in scoring position has been Kryptonite for their beloved team this season.

With Venable at second base, Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis – unquestionably the Dodgers best bunter – dropped a perfect two-strike pinch-hit bunt down (did I mention that A.J. Ellis is the Dodgers best bunter?). And though it would take a video review to confirm that Brewers second baseman Scooter Ginnett had kept his foot on the first base bag on the play, Ellis had successfully sacrificed Venable over to third base.

This is where things got interesting … very interesting.

With the winning run now 90 feet away and only one out, Brewers manager (and former Dodger) Craig Counsell opted to intentionally walk Dodgers leadoff hitter Chase Utley and Corey Seager, the Dodgers hottest hitter and team RBI leader, to get to (you guessed it) Justin Turner. And while most (if not all) Dodger fans viewed Counsell’s decision to load the bases ahead of Turner absolutely ludicrous, it was actually the right move under very difficult circumstances for the second-year manager, and pretty much his only real option. Even though it brought the Dodgers hottest hitter of the night to the plate, it also set up a force play at home; here again, Counsell’s only real option.

Counsell also brought in one of his outfielders to give him five infielders (reminiscent of the Dodgers old “Wally Wall”) and it was time to Get It On. If it worked, Counsell would be a genius – even though he would have to pull it off twice unless the Brewers could pull off a miraculous home-to-first double play which, of course, was the sole purpose behind the move – but if it failed, Counsell would be thought of as the village idiot for essentially handing Justin Turner a loaded gun.

Facing near impossible odds, Brewers manager Craig Counsell had little choice but to walk the bases loaded, move one of his outfielders into the infield and hope for a force out at the plate. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

It did not work … for Craig Counsell, that is.

After fouling off three straight fastballs, Brewers right-hander Jeremy Jeffress opted to throw Turner an 0-2 curveball, of which Turner had previously deposited two into the left field bleachers earlier in the game. It wasn’t a bad pitch, in fact, it was actually a very good curveball. But after three straight fastballs and in spite of Turner’s earlier success against the curveball, he was looking for it and got it, and lined it just over the reach of Brewers third baseman Jonathan Villar for a walk-off single and a 3-2 Dodgers win.

“I faced [Jeffress] last night and he threw me a first-pitch breaking ball and I got a chance to see it last night and then I got the base hit [last night] on the sinker,” Turner said. “My homers earlier were both on breaking balls so I assumed he was going to try to attack me with the fastball and try to get a ground ball. He just left the one breaking ball up enough to barely, I think, get it over Aaron [Hill’s] head.”

Turner’s walk-off hit in the bottom of the 10th inning on Thursday night was the third of the season for the Dodgers. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Was Turner surprised at Counsell’s decision to intentionally walk the bases loaded in front of him with only one out?

“I think it’s what you do there, you set up a force at home and Jeffress is a heavy sinker guy – gets a lot of ground balls, so no, not at all.”

When all was said and done, Justin Turner emerged as the hero and Craig Counsell the village idiot.