Red Sox’s Justin Turner Sees ‘Luxury’ In Hitting Before Rafael Devers

BOSTON — Justin Turner provided the Red Sox with the spark they needed in order to earn a 5-3 win and series sweep over the league-best Braves on Wednesday night.

Turner wore the hero’s cape at Fenway Park, crushing a go-ahead double in the seventh inning to push Boston across the finish line. While the 38-year-old has been tremendous at the plate all season long, second for the team lead in hits (108), Turner looked to teammate Rafael Devers to credit for part of his offensive success.

“The one luxury of hitting in front of Raffy is I don’t think they wanna get to him,” Turner said. “So, I face (Pierce) Johnson a lot and know he throws a lot of spin so looking for something up in the zone. Got a slider that was probably a little further out over the plate than I wanted it, but I was able to get it up in the air and take advantage of that short big green thing out in left. So, that felt good.”

Boston improved to 14-5 July, a commendable effort that Turner acknowledged, but the utilityman himself is no exception, playing a huge part recently. Turner has batted .360, going 27-for-75 in his last 20 games, blasting five homers, seven doubles and totaling 25 RBIs in the stretch.

The Red Sox also earned their 15th win in the last 20 games, the best record in MLB since June 30. Yet to fight back from being down to a soon-to-be World Series contender. That certainly makes for one of the more impressive wins in 2023.

“They all feel good, but yeah. Especially where we’re at and being down 3-0 against a really good ball club over there,” Turner explained. “Being able to battle back and get a W is huge and gotta tip our cap to our bullpen, man. I mean, (Brayan) Bello was great but the bullpen was outstanding for us coming in and that’s a really good lineup that they kind of kept at bay for two nights in a row.”