Justin Turner is the redhead with the easy smile that belies the lethal bat. Corey Seager is the steady hand, Cody Bellinger the dashing newcomer, Alex Wood the confident understudy, and Kenley Jansen the man who turns out the lights, night after night.

The star is Clayton Kershaw, and now is the time for the Dodgers’ cast to rally around their injured leading man.

There is one name that has dropped off the Dodgers’ marquee this season, the guy that for so long dominated the spotlight. He has almost become an afterthought, behind all the emerging stars, buried at the bottom of the batting order.

This week, at least, Yasiel Puig reclaimed his old role as a leading man. Puig had three hits, prevented a runner from taking an extra base, and drove in the run that put the Dodgers ahead for good in a 6-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins.


For all the grief that Puig has taken in his career for not always having his head in the game, he always has been a player. The Twins’ manager, Paul Molitor, cost his team a player by fouling up a double switch — or so the umpires ruled, anyway.

In the sixth inning, Molitor brought in shortstop Ehire Adrianza and reliever Ryan Pressly, with Adrianza batting ninth and Pressly seventh. But, according to Turner, the Dodgers had been told that Molitor had put Pressly “in the five spot.”

That spot in the lineup belonged to left fielder Eddie Rosario, one of the Twins’ best hitters.

“The player that was supposed to be out of the game was still in the game,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.


The umpires told a pool reporter that Molitor had said Pressly would bat fifth. Molitor said he had the double switch correct on his lineup card and could not imagine why the plate umpire would have heard “Rosario” instead of “Polanco” as the position player coming out of the game.

“If I didn’t make it clear, then that was my responsibility,” Molitor said.

The game was delayed 18 minutes for mass deliberations, with fans and some of the players having no idea why. Puig said he did not know the reason for the delay, so he ducked into the clubhouse for some coffee.

“I really don’t like to wait,” Puig said.


The umpires on the field decided to consult with replay officials in New York to confirm that Minnesota shortstop Jorge Polanco, who had come off the field when Adrianza came in, could return. The ruling was that he could, but that forced the Twins to play Adrianza in left field.

“They didn’t have to burn two players like we thought they would,” Turner said.

The Dodgers have won four consecutive games, and 35 of their past 41. They expanded their National League West lead to 12 1/2 games — and they built that cushion just five weeks after moving into first place.

Kenta Maeda (9-4) needed 91 pitches to complete five innings, giving up two runs and earning the victory nonetheless. Josh Ravin threw three hitless innings for his first career save.


On Monday, Puig saved the Dodgers on defense twice, in the same inning. He was the only man in the starting lineup not to make an out against the ancient one, Bartolo Colon. On Tuesday, his second hit broke a 1-1 tie.

Puig has driven in 49 runs this season, even though the Dodgers largely have banished him to the No. 8 spot in the batting order. The only Dodgers to drive in more runs this season: Seager, with 50, and Bellinger, with 67.

“If you’re unhappy that you’re the eighth batter, then you have to bat better,” Puig said, “so you can end up being the third batter.”

He ranks second on the team with 18 home runs, and he is playing elite defense. This might not be Puig’s headline season. However, Roberts said, “You could argue it’s one of his best.”


If Puig is no longer the face of the team — or at least the face of its marketing efforts — Roberts said that is all for the best.

“For us, as a team, it’s important that no one player is the center,” Roberts said. “Obviously, he’s an exciting player. He does a lot of things that are positive, that help a championship-caliber team.

“He’s one piece of this puzzle. We have a lot of good pieces.”

Chris Taylor is an entirely unheralded one. Taylor, acquired from the Seattle Mariners last year in a minor league trade for fallen prospect Zach Lee, doubled twice, drove in three runs and lifted his batting average to .321 overall — and .447 this month.


Lee never did pitch for the Mariners, but he went 0-9 for their triple-A team. Taylor never did play outfield for the Mariners, but he has anchored himself with the Dodgers, as a starting outfielder and leadoff batter for the team with baseball’s best record and highest payroll.

Whatever Andrew Friedman and his baseball operations lieutenants do at the trade deadline, they cannot possibly hope to win a trade any more thoroughly than they appear to have won this one.

And, although the Dodgers were so fed up with Puig last season that they put him on the trade block and demoted him to the minor leagues, Puig says he is a happy camper now.

“I’m really happy,” he said. “We keep winning.”


There is one element of the Puig legend that never went away. He might be batting eighth, but the Dodger Stadium fans never have stopped chanting his name.

“I’m really grateful for all the fans,” he said. “I’m really happy they’re there. I keep being Yasiel Puig.”

bill.shaikin@latimes.com


Follow Bill Shaikin on Twitter @BillShaikin