Hard-nosed Daniel Murphy will be watching most of the weekend series against the Houston Astros from the bench.

Terry Collins said Murphy, who is tied with David Wright for the team lead in games played with 121, is "flat out of gas." So Collins said he will sit Murphy for at least a couple of days and start Justin Turner at second base.

Murphy was 1-for-5 with two strikeouts in Thursday's 1-0 loss to the Colorado Rockies. He is now hitting .108 (4-for-37) with no extra-base hits in 11 games (nine starts) since Aug. 11.

Turner had a pinch-hit single to open the ninth inning Thursday. It was his 133rd at-bat of the season; last year he had 435 at-bats.

"There's nobody more competitive than Dan Murphy, and he's out of gas," Collins said. He's just flat out of gas. And he needs a couple of days. And I'm going to play J.T.

"Justin Turner has earned [the right] to get up there. He sat there all summer long, a guy who last year had over 400 at-bats and did a good job for us and has just been mired behind some guys who have been hot. Now they're not, and I'm going to get him in there."