Justin Turner comes to the rescue in Dodgers’ 10-6 win over the Brewers

It was the sort of night that will sting in the morning, baseball’s version of a hangover, when a team can only hope the joy of the evening will be worth the inevitable pain. In the wake of a 10-6 victory over the Brewers, the Dodgers reveled in the highlights – Justin Turner’s extended hot streak, the first hit of reliever Chris Hatcher’s career, home runs by Howie Kendrick and Joc Pederson – rather than worrying about the inevitable headache.

The performance of starter Mike Bolsinger will force the team to feel pain on Sunday morning, as his disastrous outing forced Manager Dave Roberts to coax nearly seven innings out of an exhausted bullpen. Bolsinger may pay for his performance with his roster spot, but the Dodgers will be forced to refresh the bullpen on Sunday.

“I’m really thankful that the offense came through,” Bolsinger said. “It just shows you what our offense can do.”

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The first three innings lasted 99 minutes and featured 13 runs. Dealing with cramping, Bolsinger recorded eight outs and gave up nine hits, blitzed by the Brewers for five runs. A six-run outburst in the third by his teammates saved him the embarrassment of a loss on his record. Turner recorded three hits, including a three-run homer in the third.

“He put us on his back again,” Roberts said.

The Dodgers (37-33) received a trio of crucial relief performances. Hatcher logged 2 1/3 innings. Casey Fien supplied two more. Adam Liberatore handled the final two innings.

When the day began, Roberts sought a game marked by normalcy. The past two nights had wearied his bullpen. Scott Kazmir lasted four innings on Thursday. Julio Urias only went five on Friday.

With the relievers worn out, the Dodgers rolled out Bolsinger, their least reliable starter. In a sentimental twist, he pitched against one of his closest friends.

Bolsinger met Brewers starter Chase Anderson when both were in high school in Texas. Arizona drafted Anderson in the ninth round of the 2009 draft, and took Bolsinger in the 15th round the next June. The duo grew close. Bolsinger was the best man in Anderson’s wedding; Anderson was one of Bolsinger’s groomsmen.

Neither man distinguished himself with his pitching on Saturday. Bolsinger yielded an RBI double to Milwaukee catcher Jonathan Lucroy in the fourth at-bat of the game. In the bottom of the first, after a walk by Turner and a ground-rule double by Adrian Gonzalez, Trayce Thompson tied the game with a two-out single.

The second inning displayed the shallowness of Bolsinger’s arsenal. His fastball registers around 88 mph and his two offspeed pitches, a curveball and a slider, do not invite fear. The Brewers hit them all.

With two outs in the second, outfielder Ramon Flores singled. Bolsinger looked like he experienced an injury to his side during the inning. Unwilling to throw Anderson a fastball, Bolsinger watched his friend single on a curveball. Milwaukee shortstop Jonathan Villar rolled a 90-mph fastball back up the middle to score one run. A flare by second baseman Scooter Gennett extended Milwaukee’s lead.

A solo homer by Howie Kendrick cut into the deficit, but Bolsinger collapsed in the third. The Brewers wounded him with three singles in a row after a one-out walk by first baseman Chris Carter. Flores drove in two runs by ripping a slider into center field.

Hours before the game, Roberts suggested he did not want to use either Hatcher or Joe Blanton, due to their relief workloads this week. But Hatcher rose to warm up, forced into emergency duty by Bolsinger.

“When you go 2 2/3 [innings], it’s an all-hands-on-deck type thing,” Roberts said.

The only comfort for Dodgers was the presence of Turner in their dugout and Anderson on the mound for the Brewers. Starting in the leadoff spot in place of Chase Utley, who was given a day off to rest, Pederson led off the bottom of the third with an infield hit. Seager walked.

Turner stepped to the plate. The night before, he had driven in all three of his team’s runs. Now he equaled that total with one swing. Anderson flipped a changeup over the plate. Turner walloped the ball out of the park.

“When he’s himself up there, he can do some really good things,” Gonzalez said. “And he’s feeling really good, which is great.”

The blast tied the game and enlivened Dodger Stadium. The crowd roared as Gonzalez singled and Howie Kendrick walked. Into the game came reliever Jhan Marinez, and Yasmani Grandal greeted him with a two-run double to pull the Dodgers ahead for the first time.

Two batters later, Hatcher stepped into a role that he was prepared for by his unique background. He debuted in 2010 as a catcher for the Marlins. The organization converted him to pitching a year later, but he still retained some skill.

Marinez tried to overpower Hatcher with a 95-mph fastball. Hatcher rifled a single back up the middle. Grandal raced home. Hatcher signaled to the umpires to retrieve the baseball, which was rolled into the Dodgers dugout.

His plan?

“Swing hard,” Hatcher said. “In case I hit it.”

Follow Andy McCullough on Twitter @McCulloughTimes