Utley took the opportunity to play the role of the heel once again, blasting two homers and driving in five runs to help the Dodgers (26-24) rout the Mets (28-20) 9-1.
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Hamari ejected Mets’ starter Noah Syndergaard in the third inning for throwing behind Los Angeles’ Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley, changing the tone of the entire night.
Utley struck out in his first at-bat against Syndergaard and fanned against Logan Verrett, Syndergaard’s replacement, in the third. And then he was promptly ejected, too.
Collins got all up in the umpires’ faces and he was ejected, as well.
Utley famously broke the leg of former Mets’ shortstop Ruben Tejada with a takeout slide in Game 2 of the postseason between NY and Los Angeles past year.
Hallion and Collins said no warnings had been issued to either team before the game or series, and Syndergaard said that he thought a warning would have made more sense than being tossed.
Much to the chagrin of exasperated Mets fans, Utley later hit a solo home run and a grand slam, powering the Dodgers to a 9-1 victory. The pitch, missed Utley’s backside by about a foot. “With what happened in that situation, we felt the ejection was warranted”, crew chief Tom Hallion said.
After the game, Syndergaard denied the pitch was intentional, but he had seven innings to be coached on what to say to avoid a suspension. David Ortiz hit a tiebreaking homer for Boston in the ninth, but the Blue Jays responded with two runs in the bottom half. “I still think a warning would have been better”.
Wright said he will have more tests today to try to determine what is wrong, although he wouldn’t rule out the possibility of him being able to play in tonight’s series finale against Los Angeles.
“My argument was, nobody got hit”, Collins said.
Following a brief major league debut, the Los Angeles Dodgers have optioned 19-year-old pitching prospect Julio Urias back to Triple-A Oklahoma City. “There was a time when, in this game, where you had a shot and nothing happened, the ball went to the backstop”.
But the Mets had not tried to retaliate until Saturday night. It kind of gets the adrenaline going a little bit.
“The rumors that we would use some in-game device couldn’t be further from the truth”, he added.
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Tejada was designated for assignment Saturday by the Cardinals, who signed Tejada after the Mets released him in spring training. Los Angeles used five relievers in a 6-5 loss to the New York Mets. TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN2PITCHING MATCHUP: Dodgers LH Clayton Kershaw (7-1, 1.48 ERA) vs. Mets RH Bartolo Colon (4-3, 3.44) Kershaw has yielded three earned runs in his last 42 innings, fanning a staggering 55 batters against two walks in that stretch. “I’m getting to two strikes more and having to battle”.
