PITTSBURGH -- In the blowout first inning of Friday’s 10-2 win for the Dodgers, Justin Turner stole his first base of the season, but came up keeling over briefly and wincing.

Turner stayed in the game, but was replaced by Joc Pederson in the seventh. Then, on Saturday, Turner was out of the starting lineup, warranting concerns about a potential injury, especially given that the Dodgers had an off-day Thursday to recover.

Manager Dave Roberts put those worries to rest before the day’s contest, saying that “nothing” is wrong with Turner. Rather, the decision to rest him is part of the Dodgers’ aim to be “proactive” to prevent injuries, rather than respond to them.

“What happens when a player tells you he’s hurt or hurting, it’s too late for the most part,” Roberts said. “So now, the communication that we have [allows us] to be able to get ahead of it, and still feel that you’re not giving up too much as far as the player you’re going to bring in there.”

Turner’s age at 34 played a little bit of a factor into Roberts’ thinking. But the larger concern is Turner’s recent stretch. He’s a little over a week removed from fouling a ball off his shin against the Reds, prompting an exit from the game, and it’s been just a few days since he played on a tough field in Tampa Bay.

“It started [with] the ball off the shin, and just in Tampa, I think for him, the dirt got him a little bit as far as just being hard, and his body just doesn’t feel right,” Roberts said. “Like anything, whether it’s the ball off the shin, you compensate. Then it could be a knee or a hamstring on the other leg.”

And Saturday’s decision also makes sense when you look forward. At 33-18 entering the game, the Dodgers are projected by many to make a deep run for the World Series for the third year in a row.

“You certainly open yourself up to why Justin is not in the lineup if he can play, if he’s not hurt,” Roberts said. “But if you play the long view of how you’re trying to win a championship and get through a season, that’s the best way we feel to do it.”

Closing a streak of openers

The use of the “opener” in baseball is fairly new, first popularized by the Rays last year when they threw Ryne Stanek almost exactly a year ago on May 26, 2018.

Even with the uptick in that strategy’s employment, facing three straight openers across two different series is certainly an anomaly. But that’s exactly what the Dodgers did, as they faced Hunter Wood and Stanek of the Rays on Tuesday and Wednesday, then Michael Feliz of the Pirates on Friday.

They were able to scratch across just one unearned run against the Rays' duo, but they batted against Feliz, scoring five runs with just one out recorded. Though strategizing against the Pirates’ plan on Friday led to three different lineup postings, Roberts doesn’t necessarily feel any relief with having to finally face another starter on Saturday in Joe Musgrove.

“If [Pirates manager Clint Hurdle] wanted to throw somebody else to start the game, I wouldn’t mind. This guy’s pretty good,” Roberts said. “But yeah, each team has their own reasons for doing things, but we’re just fortunate we have good players that will adjust and execute a game plan.”

Worth noting

• Roberts said he’s “going to try to stay away” on Saturday from using reliever Pedro Baez, who has been day-to-day with a right upper leg contusion after being struck with a comebacker in Tuesday’s 7-3 win over the Rays. Baez threw 15 pitches off a mound Friday.

“I expect him to be up tomorrow,” Roberts said. “... I just didn’t see him really let it loose yesterday, and so for him to potentially really stretch it out and not compensate [with his arm] … it just wasn’t quite there yesterday for my eyes.”

• Walker Buehler’s six innings of one-run ball in Friday’s win extended the Dodgers’ quality start streak to 11 games, dating back to May 10. Their starters are 8-1 with a 1.00 ERA in that span with 82 strikeouts to 10 walks.