They’d scored one run and were on the verge of leaving the bases loaded when Granderson redeemed his bad throw by lifting a two-out, bases-clearing double to center field for a 4-3 lead.
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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio gave his view earlier Monday, pronouncing Utley “guilty as sin”. ESPN reported that Utley’s appeal probably won’t be heard Monday, so Utley will be eligible to play in the series’ crucial third game – an appearance that will draw the fury of New York fans on Monday evening and is sure to keep the dispute over the slide boiling.
“There’s no need for any retaliation”, Michael Cuddyer said, after Monday night had turned into Tuesday morning and a series that was all about Chase Utley had been turned into a night that was all about the very impressive Mets. Tejada was wildly cheered by fans when he used a Mets-themed cane and took the field after Mets reserves were introduced pregame.
Trying to save the Dodgers’ season, ace lefty Clayton Kershaw will start on three days’ rest.
Steve Brener, a Dodgers director of publicity in the 1970s and ’80s and now a team consultant, stood between a pair of reporters and Utley after the game and said Utley did not want to answer questions.
Utley is the subject of scorn in New York after his late takeout slide Saturday night broke the right leg of Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada at Dodger Stadium.
Matt Harvey pitched, Chase Utley never left the bench, and after two days of fervent buildup, nothing extracurricular took place in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.
“I think the boos at the introductions were kind of a big statement leading into the game”, Mets starter Matt Harvey said. “And said, ‘Look, you gotta go pitch, man. We all know who you are and what you are, but we can’t let this control us”.
Commissioner Rob Manfred met with both managers and general managers before the first pitch to ensure that nothing would be done to tarnish the National League Division Series. Umpires did not issue any warnings prior to the first pitch. “We’ll worry about this stuff at another date”.
Major League Baseball suspended Utley for two playoff games, and he appealed the suspension.
Of course, things are rarely easy for the Mets, and even though they’d take a 13-4 lead into the ninth, a Howie Kendrick homer off Erik Goeddel cut the lead to 13-7, and after Goeddel allowed still another baserunner, Terry Collins, taking no chances, brought in Jeurys Familia to close out the win.
Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes rounds the bases after his home run during Game 3 of the NLDS against the Dodgers at Citi Field.
“Unless [Bowa] was playing shortstop, then he would be on top of [Utley] fighting him”, Collins said. “Just embarrassing on my part”.
Brett Anderson was the author of the damage through three, Alex Wood gave up the four runs in the fourth and hung on in the fifth in what became mop-up duty.
Perhaps it would have been most fitting if Harvey, the flamboyant righthander from Fitch High in Groton, had fashioned a signature gem in the first playoff game in Queens since Carlos Beltran took that regrettable third strike to end the 2006 NLCS.
Suspending Utley, even with his dirty slide, appears to be more of an attempt to appease angry fans amid a particularly rough play that ultimately helped the Dodgers come back to beat the Mets.
“Absolutely, this is a big boon for the series”, said David Berri, a sports economist and professor of economics at Southern Utah University. “It reminded me a lot of Shea Stadium when it got loud and insane”.
Travis d’Arnaud also homered as New York set a franchise postseason record for runs in its first playoff game at Citi Field.
Maybe Chase Utley gets into one of those.
According to the NY Post, Utley has already responded to the news. Tejada is clearly out for the remainder of the year with his injury.
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Meanwhile, Mets fans carried anti-Utley signs ranging from the playfully mean…
