DODGERS JUSTIN TURNER CLOSES IN ON RETURN

Brian Wilson looked quizzically at Justin Turner as Turner approached him at his locker in the Dodgers clubhouse Saturday.

“Oh hey, welcome back,” Wilson finally said, shaking Turner’s hand.

“For a minute there I thought you forgot who I was,” Turner told Wilson, laughing.

“Not at all,” Wilson said. “If anything it was almost like you never left.”

In time and distance, Turner wasn’t gone very long and he didn’t stray very far.

But he was away nonetheless. Although it looks like his return is imminent.

Since landing on the disabled list on June 29 with a strained left hamstring Turner’s been in Arizona rehabbing the injury.

But his arrival back in Los Angeles over the weekend marked a significant milestone in his recovery. Things are going so well he’s been cleared to play Sunday in Single A Rancho Cucamonga – as a D.H.- and if everything goes well the back-up infielder could be back with the Dodgers by next Friday in St. Louis.

“We’ll see how it goes,” a hopeful Turner said after spending Saturday afternoon doing agility work in the outfield and running the bases.

“Everything went well,” he said. “You can’t simulate game speed, obviously, but I felt like I was as close to 100 percent as I can be.”

So now it’s off to the minor leagues to test the hamstring, and hopefully pave a path back to the Dodgers after the All-Star break.

For Turner, it will be full go as he gauges the strength in the leg.

And at the urging of the Dodgers training staff, no holds barred.

“They told me when I’m playing these games, no matter where the ball’s at try to make it as game like as possible,” Turner said. “Whatever it takes to have that confidence for what ever happens.”