Turner nearly slays Giants with another clutch homer

SAN FRANCISCO -- All weekend long, Justin Turner took in the boos from the fans at Oracle Park who remembered his near decade as a Dodger all too well.

In his first season with the Red Sox, Turner has turned into the team’s most clutch performer.

And that trend continued on Sunday. The right-handed-hitting veteran bashed a go-ahead, two-run homer against side-winding Giants righty Tyler Rogers in the top of the eighth and that should have made him the hero.

Instead, the Giants stormed back and walked the Red Sox off for the second day in a row -- this time by a score of 4-3 in an 11-inning rubber game.

With the Astros and Blue Jays both losing on Sunday, Boston remained 2 1/2 games back in the American League Wild Card standings with one game to go before the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline.

“Yeah, obviously a couple of tough ones here,” said Turner. “I’ve played a lot of games against these guys up here and it's always a tough place to play. They pitch well and play good defense and just find ways to put balls in play.”

It was Turner’s 16th career homer against the Giants and his 17th of the season for the Red Sox. At 38 years old, Turner (70 RBIs) is showing no signs of aging.

“The thing with him, with men on third and less than two outs, and the infield in, he cashes in,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “It’s just such a good at-bat. He got a pitch he was able to handle and he hit it in the air. Just another great at-bat.”

How is Turner able to consistently come through in those situations?

“Just trying to get a good pitch and get something to elevate and you want to make sure you get one run in,” Turner said. “You know sometimes, you get a hit, too. Sometimes they go over the fence. Sometimes you drive in more than one run.”

When Turner flied to right in the 10th, it snapped a string of nine straight at-bats since the All-Star break with runners in scoring position and the Sox tied or trailing in which he drove in at least one run.

As for the boos, Turner relished them.

“I had a pretty warm welcome all three days,” quipped Turner. “Like I said, I think that obviously means I’m doing something right. I played against them for nine years with the Dodgers and if they weren't booing me, it probably means I haven’t been that good against them.”

Turner’s latest clutch knock wasn’t enough on a day the Red Sox didn’t execute with fundamentals. Rafael Devers made an error on a routine ground ball that led to an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth to give the Giants a 2-0 lead.

In the seventh, moments after Adam Duvall put the Sox within one with a solo homer, another key play unfolded. With runners at first and second and one out, Triston Casas hit a fly ball to shallow center. Christian Arroyo strayed too far off second and was doubled off to end the inning. If Arroyo had stayed closer to second, he might have been forced at third base. But in that case, the Sox could have had another crack with runners at first and second and two outs.

“At this place, the wind plays weirdly,” said Arroyo. “Triston kind of back-spun it and it just kind of stayed up. And obviously in that situation, you can't get doubled off. There’s no excuse for it.”

The Red Sox scored an aggregate eight runs in the three games at Oracle Park. On Sunday, they were 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position, with Turner’s homer serving as the only hit.

In the two extra innings, Boston didn’t move the automatic runner off second base.

“We didn't score [in extras]; they scored once,” Cora said. “It’s part of it. “Two bad days. [I’m] not going to make a big deal of it. Some of the big boys didn’t swing the bat well and that was it.”

After three action-packed days in San Francisco, the Sox go to Seattle for a three-game series that starts Monday.

As for what Boston’s roster might look like when the Deadline passes on Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET, Turner didn’t wish to speculate.

“That’s not my job,” Turner said. “My job is to show up and to play every day and help us win. We’ll let the front office figure that one out.”