The 22-year-old hovered; then he broke. The throw arrived about the time that he did, sliding headfirst just out of reach of Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal. Given the timing, a slightly slower player would probably have been out. Almost any other player in baseball would have been out. Given his speed, Turner scored, the Nationals’ first steal of home since Bryce Harper did so in 2012. Ian Desmond also stole home in 2011. The Nationals easily won, 8-1.

“I forget a lot of times that it’s actually stealing home. I’ll take the stolen base and all that, but I don’t count that as much as a straight steal,” Turner said. “But big play and it was fun. It was exciting. I’m glad I was safe.”

Nationals Manager Dusty Baker said Turner executed the play perfectly, because the decision on when to break is more important than the decision of whether or not to break at all, and Turner chose right. Turner said he noticed the infield shift somewhat before the play and that third base coach Bobby Henley had told him to look out for Espinosa breaking for second. When Turner saw it, his shortstop instincts took over as he read Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and second baseman Chris Taylor. When he saw Taylor look away, he broke.

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“I’m used to speed. I love speed. You heard me say that in spring training. Speed [kills]. It does a lot of things,” Baker said. “It creates a lot of mistakes. Myself, I signed on speed. I had fast cars and a lot of tickets. I love speed.”

Turner’s second triple in two nights put him on third, in a position to score on that play in the first place. As he ran out his line drive down the left field line and into the corner, MLB’s StatCast measured his top speed at over 22 mph. He broke 22 mph on his triple Tuesday night, too. According to Andrew Simon of MLB.com, the top three maximum speeds of any player on a triple this season are as follows: 1. Turner (22.7 mph), 2. Ben Revere (22.5 mph), 3. Turner (22.4 mph).

“He said to me the biggest thing why he likes hitting triples is to be out there on third with a guy behind him. That’s huge,” Bryce Harper said. “Being able to get on third with less than two outs. Being able to get up there, knock one into the outfield and let him score, that’s pretty unbelievable. That shows a lot about how he is. He’s a team guy, a lot of fun to watch. I enjoy it.”

With Ryan Zimmerman out of the lineup, Turner has found semi-regular playing time at second base, bumping Daniel Murphy to first base (or, in one instance, third). Zimmerman is eligible to come off the disabled list this weekend but will head out on a rehab assignment of as-yet-unclear length before he returns. Turner was called up when Zimmerman was placed on the disabled list. He is hitting .320 and running aggressively, both of which will make a difficult decision for the Nationals when Zimmerman is ready to reclaim his roster spot. Turner played a few games in the outfield in the minors to make himself a more versatile option for the crowded Nationals big league roster. Could he, perhaps, be ready to play there if that is where he fit? Turner said he thought so. Baker said it is still “too soon for that.”