LOS ANGELES — When it comes to clutch hits, Justin Turner aims to cheese.

Turner drove a solo home run into a plate of nachos – and drove those nachos into a fan’s lap in the new “Home Run Seats” lining the outfield walls. The cheesy homer in the third inning stood up as the difference for most of the night before Zach McKinstry added a lactose-free home run in the eighth, sending the Dodgers to a 4-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.

It is a sign of life returning to normal that this year’s home run memes now feature live fans and not cardboard cutouts getting chipped.

“Tonight was a first. That was kind of fun,” Turner said of his splash-down. “I saw that kind of splatter up and then when they went to look at it (to see if the fan had interfered) and showed the replay I saw that it was nachos. So I came up in the clubhouse and asked Javy (one of the clubhouse attendants) if he could run that guy out a new tray of nachos.

“I felt bad. I’m sure it was not a $2 plate of nachos so I wanted to replace them.”

The win gives the Dodgers their second five-game winning streak in the first 12 games of the season and guarantees another series win.

Since their early exit from the 2019 postseason, the Dodgers have played 27 series (including four in the postseason last October). They have won 23 of them, split three and lost just one series – dropping two of three games to the Rockies at Dodger Stadium last Sept. 4-6.

The 10th win in their first 12 games this season featured something new – an extended effort by the Dodgers’ bullpen. Dodgers starting pitchers had gone at least six innings in nine of the first 11 games but this time their early lead congealed as five relievers combined on 4-2/3 scoreless innings.

Pitching for the first time in nine days, Dustin May was solid through four innings, allowing four hits but wiggling out of danger when the Rockies got a runner into scoring position in the third and fourth innings.

But he started wobbling in the fifth and the Rockies lumped three singles (one on a bunt) together with a walk and a run-scoring forceout to score two runs and send Dodgers manager Dave Roberts waving for his bullpen the earliest he has had to this season.

That Rockies uprising made it a one-run game.

The Dodgers had Rockies starter (fill in the blank) on the ropes in the first inning. They forced Jon Gray to throw 36 pitches just to collect three outs – the third coming on a terrible called third strike to Matt Beaty by home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi that caught more of the right-handed batter’s box than home plate. Cuzzi later tossed Rockies manager Bud Black when he griped too long and too loudly about a strike zone that seemed as randomly contoured as the cheese stains on the nacho fan’s jacket.

The Dodgers scored twice in that first inning (though it felt like more) on an RBI single by Turner and a sacrifice fly by Gavin Lux. They added another run in the third on Turner’s line drive into the nacho platter, the sloppiest of his three home runs this April – matching his career total from his 11 previous Aprils.

“I think it’s just the law of averages,” Roberts said of Turner’s hot start. “April hasn’t been good for Justin as far as slug. But he was due to slug a little bit in April so I’m happy that it’s here in ’21. He looks really good at the plate, taking good at-bats, doing what he does.”

The relief relay began with Victor Gonzalez getting out of further damage in the fifth then handing off to Blake Treinen with the tying run at second and two outs in the sixth.

Treinen got Josh Fuentes to fly out then struck out two in the seventh before passing the one-run lead to Scott Alexander with a runner at first. Alexander broke Charlie Blackmon’s bat on a pop-out that ended the inning.

The Dodgers wasted an opportunity to add to their lead in the seventh. After a leadoff double by Corey Seager, Turner was hit by a pitch. The Dodgers came up empty, though, with Cuzzi striking again, striking Chris Taylor out on another questionable call.

After Corey Knebel retired the side in the top of the eighth, McKinstry finally expanded the lead with his leadoff home run off of Rockies reliever Daniel Bard. It was McKinstry’s third homer and seventh extra-base hit in 32 at-bats this season.

Kenley Jansen walked the leadoff man in the ninth but struck out the side to close it out, hitting 94 mph consistently for the second consecutive outing. He has retired five of the seven batters he has faced since blowing a save in Oakland last Wednesday, not allowing a ball to be hit past the mound.

“It’s timing. Just having better timing,” Jansen said. “It’s a feel that I’ve been searching for for years. It’s hard for me to explain. But on the second pitch against Washington when I had that feeling, I just hold on to it.”

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