The 61 runs scored Monday also set a postseason record.
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Of course, the Mets should have plenty of confidence that they can beat Kershaw; after all, they did it in game one on Friday night, when the three-time Cy Young victor took the loss against Jacob deGrom.
Although the hard slide into second base to break up a double play is a common feature of the game, injuries on the play are unusual.
Three of Toronto’s first eight batters homered in an ALDS win at Texas, and Cespedes highlighted New York’s 13-7 win over the Dodgers by crushing a three-run shot.
When the Dodgers touched him for three runs in the second inning, Harvey’s night had the feel of a Broadway flop.
Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run single, and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez had two hits, including a solo homer. He hit 243 home runs for Philadelphia, including 10 in the postseason and five in the 2009 World Series against the Yankees.
NEW YORK – Matt Reynolds was home in Oklahoma just a few weeks ago, his minor-league season complete. He finished the game with five innings pitched, allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits and two walks to go along with the seven strikeouts. After a Wilmer Flores infield single loaded the bases, the Mets had the same problem the Dodgers did, as the bottom of their order was coming up to the plate. That drew him a 14-day suspension, and when he returned to Shea with Atlanta, the Mets limited beer sales to two per person at a time instead of four. His third-to-last pitch was a change-up that d’Arnaud launched over the left-field fence. Granderson launched a three-run double that banged off the right-center fence near the 380-foot sign and put the Mets in front for good. Music from “The Natural” played as he rounded the bases.
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.
Utley is available to play tonight in Game 3 of the National League Division Series while his appeal of a two-game suspension for a reckless slide is pending.
“To lose a guy like that, it hurts”, Wright was saying before the game, before an unblinking Utley stared down the pre-game cameras that lingered on his face while he was booed, before Harvey would make his own playoff debut, before a brief but freaky delay to start the game would be blamed on a balky phone in the Dodger dugout.
Kendrick, the regular starter, remained at second base, and Mattingly said Utley was on the bench not for safety but exclusively “baseball reasons”. Now, all that stands between New York and a trip to the NLCS is one of the best pitchers in baseball: Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw has lost his last five postseason starts and is just 1-6 with a 4.91 ERA in nine career postseason starts (4.99 in 12 outings).
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After hearing their manager Terry Collins warn off the bloodthirsty cry for an all-out baseball beaning war – “This is too big a game”, Collins said beforehand, “We can play angry, but we’ve got to play under control”, – the Mets’ players went out and heeded his call. The Mets officially added SS Matt Reynolds to their roster in place of SS Ruben Tejada.
