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Justin Turner was not going to let Clayton Kershaw s hard work go for naught.

Turner s ability to carry a team for stretches has not revealed itself all season, yet he still found a way to give the Los Angeles Dodgers the victory they were seeking Friday in the opener of a three game series against their division rivals, the San Francisco Giants.

Microfracture knee surgery in the offseason was the procedure Turner needed to get healthy again, but it looks to have taken a toll on him in the early going. His go ahead home run in Friday s ninth inning, though, could be a sign of better things to come.

The last couple of years he has been very offensive and a complete baseball player, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. For me, I pencil him in there pretty much every day because I trust him, I like what he does when he gets in the box and plays defense. I just encourage him to take one at bat at a time. If he can run a streak for a week, two weeks, that will be great http://www.ladjersey.com/clayton-kershaw-jersey-c-8.html, but we re trying to keep it more simplified.

One strategy of late is to get Turner to pull more fastballs to left field. He had been in a rut where his timing appeared off and some late swings were taking fastballs the opposite way. As Roberts said at the time, there is no way for a power hitter to survive by continuing to take balls to the opposite field.

Progress in that area could be seen not only in Turner s home run to left field Friday the difference in the 3 2 victory over the Giants it was also apparent in his home run to left Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies.

It s definitely something I have paid attention to and have been working on, the third baseman said. Not only pulling the ball, but trying to get the ball in the air on the pull side. To get a good result out of that is a good feeling. Just show up tomorrow and continue to work and try to be as consistent as possible.

If Turner was looking for inspiration in the consistency department, he need not look any further than Kershaw, who dazzled again, even when giving up a first inning home run to Matt Duffy. Kershaw simply retired 11 consecutive after the home run and continued to keep the Giants off balance.

But with the Dodgers providing only two runs of support, in the first inning, the Giants were able to finally break even in the sixth on a two out, RBI double from Buster Posey.

After the teams combined for three first inning runs Kenta Maeda Jersey, the expected pitching duel between Kershaw and the Giants Johnny Cueto developed. Kershaw had 13 strikeouts over eight innings. Cueto gave up his two runs in the first and then retired 23 of the final 24 batters he faced.

Turner was the first batter reliever Santiago Casilla faced in the ninth.

While the Dodgers offense has been on again http://www.ladjersey.com/ross-stripling-jersey-c-12.html, off again all season, the club also knows that once Turner gets on one of his patented hot streaks, the Dodgers will be better off for it.

To his credit, Turner makes no excuses when it comes to returning from his knee procedure. He said Friday his legs feel just fine and that his knee troubles are long behind him.

Friday might be that sign the Dodgers were looking for that a red hot streak from the red headed Turner could be on its way.

I feel like J.T., him and Howie [Kendrick] have been lining out non stop Adam Liberatore Jersey, Kershaw said. I feel that they re squaring the balls, they re just not finding holes. It s when those ground balls start finding holes that you ll see the averages climb. They are definitely squaring up balls to have a higher batting average right now. JT s always been a clutch hitter like that. He s kind of been our guy and that was a big one tonight.

After Friday s game, that Turner batting average stood at .221, with a .316 on base percentage and a .349 slugging percentage. Those numbers are far below Turner s career norms, but he has managed to stay positive even when the luck has failed to go his way.

I feel like I m taking great at bats every night and just not getting the results, Turner said. It s something where maybe three or four years ago, when I wasn t as mature as I am now Zach Lee Jersey, or hadn t had the success that I ve had, it probably would be a lot tougher on me. I m just trying to find the silver lining in the at bats and take quality at bats every time. Don t worry about the results. It s not something we can control. Just grind it out every night and see what happens.