Steven Matz pitched well in the biggest game of his life to date, but got touched up in the third inning because of two bad curveballs, a few bad BABIP luck, and a boot from a normally sure-handed defender.
Advertisement
The Dodgers crashed out of the Division Series after four games in 2014 and lost the NL Championship Series in six games the year before that.
“I don’t know how frustrated he is”, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said.
A hearing for Dodgers infielder Chase Utley’s appeal of his two-game suspension has been scheduled for Monday. “Yeah, I’ve got a preference”, chuckling Mets manager Terry Collins said, drawing laughs. “For us, it was stay focused, go out and let our play do all the talking, and you know, all that stuff will be resolved later”. And that’s what Utley did; the umpires, at the time, determined that the slide was within the rules and thus didn’t call Kendrick out at first. “When you face a guy like Clayton Kershaw, you want to put up zeros and I wasn’t able to do that today”. “I’m so happy for him”. Wood gave up four earned runs on four hits in two innings, proving the Dodgers only have two reliable starting pitchers.
With headhunting off the table, Mets’ starter Matt Harvey breezed through the first inning, but he ran into immediate trouble in the second. Adrian Gonzalez blooped an RBI single and Turner added a two-run double, providing support for the lefty ace. The only blemish on Kershaw’s night was a solo homer by Daniel Murphy, who did the same to help deGrom defeat Kershaw in Game 1. “Just embarrassing on my part”.
Chicago Cubs center fielder Dexter Fowler (24) hits a home run… New York has a 2-1 lead in the series. “Yeah, I got a preference”.
Cespedes and d’Arnaud each finished with three runs, three RBIs and three of New York’s 13 hits. It was the loudest ovation of the night except, perhaps, for the shower of boos that greeted Utley when his name was announced.
The 7 Line Army and other fans waving orange towels brought cutouts with Utley’s face in the bull’s-eye of a target. The Mets are playing for Rueben Tejada. 364 on-base percentage as a leadoff man, including 26 homers, set a consistent tone for the Mets’ offense all year long, especially once the new lineup additions (such as Cespedes) arrived at the Trade Deadline.
Meanwhile, Tejada raised his fist to a rousing ovation when he was introduced in full uniform alongside teammates. What was so heartening for the Mets wasn’t just that they won but how they won.
As for the Game 4 loss, Wright said, “I wish we could have won it here, obviously, so that we could prepare for the next round and do it in front of our fans”. “We’ve got Ruben’s back”. Kershaw actually collected the game’s first hit, but was erased at second on an Enrique Hernandez grounder.
The Mets have no problem trusting Jacob deGrom in Game 5.
Advertisement
Kershaw, 27, is 114-56 with a 2.43 ERA in the regular season, with three Cy Young Awards and an MVP since 2011. Drama of the retaliatory nature steered clear of the first postseason game in Citi Field history. This time, a Kershaw start in October ended the way so many Kershaw starts from April through September have ended.
