ST. PETERSBURG, FL - July 04: Philadelphia Phillies Shortstop Trea Turner (7) at bat during the MLB regular season game on Independence Day between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays on July 04, 2023, at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire)
When Trea Turner landed on the injured list in early May, he had two home runs. Since returning from his hamstring injury on June 17, he’s hit five long balls, increasing his season total to seven. Two of those five homers since mid-June came on Friday night as the Phillies opened their series in Atlanta against the Braves with an 8-6 win.
Turner homered in the fourth inning off Max Fried on a hanging curveball to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead. Two innings later, he tagged Fried for another two-run shot to give his team another three-run lead.
Friday was Turner’s second game this week with two home runs. He also left the yard twice on Tuesday against the Cubs.
Since returning from the injured list, the Phillies shortstop was hitting .333/.371/.530 in 70 plate appearances before Friday night. With Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper on the injured list, it was going to take some other players to step up at the plate in order for the Phillies to continue scoring runs. And Turner has been up to the task. Since Schwarber and Harper were placed on the injured list last Saturday, Turner is 11-for-27 with four home runs and 10 RBIs.
On the bump for the Phillies was Aaron Nola. It was Nola’s 35th career start against the Braves and he was solid. He allowed three runs on five hits over six innings. He struck out eight batters and generated 21 swings-and-misses, 10 of which came on his curveball, on 60 total swings. Nola’s pitches had some extra zip on them tonight as his average velocity was up on all of them. The veteran right-hander is now 10-4 on the year with a 3.48 ERA.
