Dodgers get big contributions from two former castoffs
LOS ANGELES — The team that has run the largest payrolls in history the past few years won Game 1 of the World Series, in part, by dumpster diving.
OK, that is not completely fair. Justin Turner is now a well-paid third baseman, though he came to the Dodgers in 2014 because — Met fans in chorus here — Sandy Alderson decided to non-tender him.
“When I was in New York I was trying to survive,” Turner said.
The goals have changed in L.A. In his last at-bat of the first World Series game at Dodger Stadium, the crowd chanted “M-V-P.”
Turner hit second Tuesday night, ahead of Chris Taylor, who once showed up on a transaction page in June 2016, having been traded from the Mariners for Zach Lee. In the time since, Lee has been waived by Seattle, released by San Diego and gained fame as the player traded for Taylor.
Because, notably this year, Taylor has Turner-ed around his career.
“He’s matured a ton,” said Astros manager A.J. Hinch, who used to see a different version of Taylor in the AL West.
In the opener of the 113th World Series, one plus two in the Dodgers order equaled three — a homer by Taylor on the first pitch of the bottom of the first, a two-run shot by Turner in the sixth to break a tie leading to a 3-1 Dodger victory.
Manager Dave Roberts said there is a “DNA piece” shared by the Dodgers’ version of T n’ T, that Taylor and Turner “created opportunities for themselves.”
Not even on the big-league roster when this season began, Taylor was summoned in mid-April and morphed from invisible to indispensable. He started at five positions, became the regular leadoff hitter early in the second half and replaced the struggling Joc Pederson in center for good in September — and October.
Like Turner before him, he redid his swing to get the ball in the air more — leading to 21 homers this season. In the first inning against Keuchel — against whom he had been 0-for-3 with three strikeouts — Taylor counseled himself to be aggressive and he whipped the first pitch 447 feet to left.
“He’s our sparkplug,” Turner said. “When he goes, we go.”
Keuchel was not unsettled. To his familiar form, he kept the Dodgers on the ground, did not allow another run through five innings and was entangled with Clayton Kershaw in a 1-1 game.
He induced two grounders to open the sixth. To that point, Keuchel had gone to three balls on just one hitter all game and walked none. But Taylor had not only homered, but lined sharply into a double play in the third and hit a long foul in his sixth-inning at-bat before drawing a walk.
Turner, who signed a four-year, $64 million pact last offseason, struck out and popped foul in his first two at-bats using a 34 ¹/₂-ounce bat. Concerned about getting beat inside again, Turner went back to his more familiar 33 ¹/₂ ounces.
Turner disagreed with home-plate umpire Phil Cuzzi on a called strike that looked off the outside corner and made the count 1-2. But he collected himself to drive the next pitch — a cutter up that did not get in enough — into the left-field seats.
Turner’s signature is his long, thick red beard and hair, and playoff genius (he came in with a 1.113 OPS for his playoff career). He has four homers this postseason and 26 RBIs in 27 postseason games — tying him with Duke Snider for most career postseason RBIs by a Dodger.
It is another red October. Also, one Taylor-made.