Dodgers’ Justin Turner taken to emergency room to treat infection

The Dodgers sent third baseman Justin Turner to the emergency room Tuesday afternoon for treatment of an infection on his right thigh, Manager Don Mattingly said.

When the Dodgers played in New York over the weekend, Turner reported what Mattingly said looked like a “pimple on his leg.” Mattingly said Turner thought the issue was “like a bug bite.”

The Dodgers’ medical staff administered antibiotics “to be careful,” Mattingly said, and Turner played Sunday.

“It wasn’t bad there,” Mattingly said. “They looked at it as this little bitty thing.”

The Dodgers were off Monday. Turner was in the Dodgers’ original lineup Tuesday, but he was scratched and sent to the hospital after trainers noticed the infection had worsened.

Turner, 30, the Dodgers’ starting third baseman, leads the team in batting average (.323), slugging percentage (.563) and OPS (.950.) He has 13 home runs -- a career high -- in 87 games.