Trea Turner had a game to forget on Saturday when the Philadelphia Phillies opened up the NLDS against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park. Honestly, most of the Phillies hitters had games to forget in a discouraging 6-2 loss in Game 1.
Turner, in his second postseason with the Phillies after signing a monster $300 million contract, went 0-for-4 in his 2024 playoff debut. He registered a pair of strikeouts and couldn't come up with key hits when the Phillies needed it most. He wasn't the only one, with the Phillies only managing five hits total in the game.
But Turner made a decision after his Game 1 performance that paid off for the Phillies in their dramatic 7-6 win in Game 2 on Sunday.
Trea Turner’s decision after Game 1 pays off big time for Phillies in Game 2
According to John Clark of NBC Sports Philadelphia, Turner went to the cage for extra batting practice after the game. With Phillies hitters talking about the late afternoon/early evening shadows making it hard to see the ball for the first seven innings, Turner could have just as easily fallen back on that as an excuse to go home and lick his wounds. Instead, the veteran faced the music and put in the extra work.
"I think just grind it out a little bit more. I think they're doing a good job of making pitches, especially when they need to, and they're throwing quite a few different pitches," Turner said about the approach at the plate after the game, per KYW Newsradio's Dave Uram. "You can't really rely on some of the at-bats you've had in the last couple of months or so. Just make the adjustments, see what they're doing to you and don't miss that mistake pitch."
Nick Castellanos and Trea Turner both said the shadows in the first 7 innings were really bad. There were only 3 hits in the game through 7 and it was easier to see after that.
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) October 6, 2024
Trea went for extra batting practice session in the cage after the loss pic.twitter.com/RioW1AJLqy
On Sunday, it looked like he made those adjustments and was a different hitter. His official box score reads 2-for-4 with a walk, a strikeout and two runs scored. Not spectacular by any means, but it doesn't tell the whole story.
Turner's two-out at-bats key a pair of Phillies' rallies
He singled in his first at-bat and then stole second and third. The Phillies stranded him 90 feet from home, but it was an encouraging sign. He couldn't come up with a hit in the third, with Johan Rojas at third base and two out, but he redeemed himself in his next at-bat.
Fast forward to the bottom of the sixth. The Phillies looked cooked, down 3-0, with the home crowd getting restless. Turner came up with a key two-out single through the left side. That set up Bryce Harper's two-run home run that reignited The Bank.
After striking out to start the eighth, he got one more chance to make a difference in the ninth. With the game tied 6-6, the Phillies had two out with extra innings looming. Turner worked a walk. Harper followed suit. When Nick Castellanos lined his game-winning walk-off single to left field, it was Turner who flew around third and scored the winning run before heading to first base to join the celebration.
"Back and forth," Turner said about the back-and-forth struggle after Game 2, per NBC Sports Philadelphia's Corey Seidman. "At times, you don't see the light at the end of the tunnel and then stuff starts to happen, things go your way and the next thing you know you feel like you're in the driver's seat. Then it gets taken from you again."
Turner certainly didn't let it get taken from him this time. He won't get the same glory as Harper and Castellanos after the incredible win, but his two-out at-bats in the sixth and the ninth made the Phillies' thrilling Game 2 win possible.