Trea Turner builds off of inside-the-park experience

Center fielder Trea Turner faced another play he hasn't seen before in his new position in Tuesday's 9-7 comeback win over the Braves.

In the top of the second inning, Dansby Swanson's drive over Turner's head ricocheted violently high off the right-center field wall and rolled 50 feet away from him. Swanson was able to run all the way home with his first career homer, an inside-the-park job. The Braves led 3-0.

Initially, the drive took Turner a bit by surprise.

"Two strikes, fastball up and in, I didn't think he hit it that good," Turner said. "I knew I had to go back on it, but I didn't think he would've hit it off the wall, necessarily. And at that time the twilight was pretty tough, so I kind of lost it when it went above the stadium, and by the time I picked it back up it was pretty deep. Then it bounced off the wall a lot farther than I thought it was going to. Just a weird play."

Manager Dusty Baker said a lot went against Turner on the play, including the speed of Swanson and Turner's outfield teammates: left fielder Jayson Werth and right fielder Bryce Harper weren't able to back the play up as quickly as they might of hoped.

"That's the first time he's had to play a ball like that," Baker said. "That's a tough thing. First you thinking you can catch it. After that you got to retreat. That's the first one I've seen off that wall like that and then it bounced back 50 feet. The other outfielders were converging on the ball. There was really nothing he could do about it. And nobody could get there quick enough.

"Swanson was a very fast runner. I could tell when he got to second base that was going to be an inside the parker. Fortunately for us it didn't hurt. I don't know anybody that has gotten their first home run on an inside the parker."

But the key takeaway from a play like that for Turner is the experience of going through it. He also is constantly working with Werth and Harper on communication in the outfield.

"I think I talk to J-Dub and Harp about each and every play, whether I make the play or not make the play," Turner said. "I caught a ball in the left-center gap, I think off (Nick) Markakis, and J-Dub and I talked about it. Routine play, but we talk about a lot of things, and I think that helps the learning process go a little bit quicker."

Later, Turner contributed with his bat again. His two-run single in the bottom of the eighth completed the comeback. Did he feel like that big hit redeemed him from the earlier inside-the-park homer?

"I don't know if I'd necessarily call it redeeming myself because I was playing hard for the most part," Turner said. "I wouldn't call it a mistake, necessarily. I would've played it differently if I could've had it over. But I think I try to separate each and every opportunity and win as many as I can."

But Turner said finishing a game well helps his mentality heading into today's contest. If he starts 0-for-3 and gets a key hit in the end, 1-for-4 feels and looks a whole lot better.

"Huge. Turning an 0-for-3 into a 1-for-4 is kind of saving your individual day," Turner said. "That at-bat may be big like tonight in a game that goes back and forth. That fourth and fifth at-bat is really important, and you face really good guys. Don't give anything away. If you can compete and not give anything away, you should end up pretty good over the course of a season."