Turner shows off bat and legs with dynamic game in Milwaukee

MILWAUKEE - The Nationals' 6-3 loss to the Brewers on Thursday night really featured only one significant, positive development. But it was a big one.

Trea Turner, in his third game back from the disabled list, put together a very Trea Turner kind of game. He went 3-for-4. He beat out a bunt single. He stretched another single into a double, then stole third base. He tripled off the right field wall. And he scored a pair of runs, almost entirely without the assistance of anyone else.

"Oh yeah, it's great to have Trea back," manager Dusty Baker said. "He makes things happen. He's an impact player. Maybe this is slowly but surely getting all our guys back into shape, and we certainly welcome that back."

Though they managed to continue to thrive without their leadoff man for two months while he recovered from a fractured right wrist, the Nationals know nobody could adequately replace Turner and single-handedly produce the way he does.

Turner's first two games back offered a couple of glimpses of that, but it was all on display Thursday night, the rare combination of hitting ability and the speed to turn grounders into hits, singles into doubles and doubles into triples.

"It feels good, because I've been out for a long time," he said. "I haven't had the chance to compete in general. You wish it comes in a win, but we'll get out there tomorrow and try to get that tomorrow."

Because his injury was confined to his hand, Turner was able to run throughout his 60-day stint on the disabled list. He said he took that opportunity to work on a few things that could help improve what already was his most marketable skill.

Even so, there's nothing like actual major league game action to put it all to the test.

"I think you practice in the cage all you want with a swing, and then you get out there and your body does things that you don't do in the cage because of the adrenaline," he said. "Kind of the same thing with running. You work on the form, but you get in there and you're trying to beat out a ground ball, you may do something different. But I think we did a good job. I tried to focus on the little things like that, and stay in shape and be ready to play so I can take advantage of bunts and stolen bases and scoring on sac flies. And I think that's what I bring to this team."

Perhaps Turner's greatest contribution Thursday night was his ability twice to reach third base with fewer than two outs, all thanks to his legs. After his RBI double in the third (a single to left-center for most others), he boldly took off for third and wound up with his 37th stolen base of the season. That put him in position to score on Jayson Werth's groundout to short.

Then in the eighth, Turner sent a ball careening off the wall in right-center and never hesitated to reach third base. That again put him in position to score on a Werth groundout.

"That's the type of player he is," Turner said of Werth. "He's willing to sacrifice that for the team, and it's my job to get over there. For the most part, I think I'm pretty safe. I take calculated risks. On the triple, I didn't think there was any play. And on the stolen base, that one I did risk a little bit. But you put pressure on the other team, good things happen."