In that game, Kershaw allowed a three-run home run to Matt Adams on his 102nd and final pitch.
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Terry Collins said he explicitly told Harvey not to throw at any Dodger in retaliation. Zack Greinke, arguably the best pitcher in baseball this season, has an ERA of 1.66 and a WHIP of.66.
Kershaw has lost his last five postseason starts, including one that came on three days’ rest – Game 4 of the 2014 Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. It was 3-0 Dodgers early and Mets’ fans sphincters’ clenched.
But then the Dodgers ace settled down and kept the Mets from scoring again until he was relieved by Chris Hatcher to begin the eighth inning.
The crowd did not get its wish.
Unfazed by the initial onslaught, the Dodgers recovered and Justin Turner cut the lead in half after Andre Ethier’s double.
Michael Conforto added a sacrifice fly for the Mets in the seventh, while Granderson also hit a two-run double in the inning to extend the lead to nine. “We have 860 seats for every playoff game so our group will be out there every day”, Darren Meenan of Douglaston, New York, said before the Mets’ 13-7 win. But before the ban was handed down, manager Don Mattingly said Utley might start Monday because of the lefty-righty matchup and his good numbers against Harvey (6 for 18 with a homer). They opened the inning with four straight singles to cut the deficit to 3-1, but Anderson recorded two quick outs to put himself in position to escape the inning with a lead.
The Mets can now finish off the Dodgers in Game 4 at Citi Field on Tuesday night.
Utley appealed the two-game suspension, but the case cannot be heard immediately, therefore Utley can play until his appeal is heard. If he does, we get a Game 5 back in Los Angeles. D’Arnaud became the second to accomplish that feat three innings later.
Los Angeles Dodgers’ Chase Utley walks out onto the field for batting practice before Game 3 of the National League Division Series against the Mets. Utley slid late and reached high in a successful attempt to take out Tejada on a potential double-play ball.
McHale had been MLB’s executive vice-president of administration from 2002 until April, when he received his new title.
Utley’s agent, Joel Wolfe, called the two-game suspension “outrageous and completely unacceptable”. The next could still be his latest showdown with Utley, a thorn in the Mets’ side for more than a decade while he played for NL East rival Philadelphia.
“That wasn’t a slide, you’ve seen it”, said Darren Meenan of The7Line.com.
The Mets faithful hoping for a #WinForRuben got exactly what they wanted in Game 3 of the NLDS Monday night.
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But Utley has appealed, making him eligible to play in Monday night’s game. Harvey hit Utley with a pitch that resulted in warnings being issued to both teams. “With this decision behind us, the team and our fans can now focus on playing winning baseball”, the Mets said in a statement.
