October Red: Dodgers' Turner again delivers with bat, glove

bushy beard, pine tar stain on back of his . 10 Los Angeles Dodgers jersey and all of those postseason hits. That's October Red.

Justin Turner is one of constants for Dodgers during ir third World Series in four years, and his Duke Snider-matching homer in first inning of Game 3 put m ahe to stay on way to a 6-2 win Friday night for a 2-1 series le over Tampa Bay — and halfway to ir first championship since 1988.

A month shy of turning 36, Turner also scored after a double and showed off a nifty glove at third base.

That stain created by aggressive practice swings may cover half of his name on his back, but he is a very familiar figure in October — this was his 15th World Series game.

Turner, who earlier this month passed Steve Garvey for most postseason hits in franchise history, hit a solo shot in first off Charlie Morton to match 11 homers hit by Snider — Hall of Fame center fielder who played for Dodgers World Series championship teams in Brooklyn and Los Angeles. Turner's 40 RBIs are Dodgers postseason record.

All of postseason homers for Turner have come in past five seasons. Only Nelson Cruz (17) and Jim Edmonds (13) have hit more homers in postseason after turning 30, after ne before that.

His record 18th postseason double came in third before scoring on Max Muncy’s two-run single for a 3-0 le. Turner h a couple of fine plays in bottom half, stepping back to field a hard grounder and making a strong throw to retire Willy ames, n reaching up to grab a hot chopper that started an inning-end double play.

And those came when versatile infielder wasn’t roaming around during various defensive shifts incorporated by Dodgers. He is often on move after two strikes, venturing from closer to third base to or side of second.

While he was hitting only .216 since end of regular season going into Game 3, Turner went 2 for 5 to extend his postseason on-base streak to 11 in a row.

Turner has 75 hits in 69 postseason games, all with Dodgers since 2014 after joining team as a free nt. He passed Garvey's record 63 hits in Game 3 of NL Division Series against San Diego at Globe Life Field, new Texas Rangers' ballpark where World Series is also being played.

That came after he hit .307 in regular season, which he ended by reaching base safely in 31 consecutive games with a plate appearances— his career long, and second-longest in majors this year behind 33 in a row by Atlanta's Freddie Freeman.

Turner is at end of a $64 million, four-year contract he got in free ncy to re-sign for Dodgers before current run of World Series. He has been part of seven of ir eight consecutive NL West titles.

Im credits: AP