The NY Mets and LA Dodgers series is tied 1-1 heading into NLDS Game 3 after Los Angeles won 5-2 over New York on Saturday night. The game was not without some controversy, as a slide by Chase Utley that injured Ruben Tejada sparked the LA comeback and now New York will have Matt Harvey on the mound at Citi Field.
The Mets took an early lead against Cy Young favorite Zack Greinke and were in position to take that lead into the eighth inning before things unraveled on Saturday night. Noah Syndergaard started for the Mets and pitched very well and he was replaced by Bartolo Colon, who faced Howie Kendrick at the plate. Chase Utley was on first base and he slid hard into second base after Colon induced a ground ball to Daniel Murphy, who tossed it to Tejada to try and get the double play.
Utley slid past the bag hard and hit Tejada in the leg as he spun to catch the ball and that resulted in a serious injury for Tejada and some controversy for the game. Tejada had to be taken off the field on a cart and suffered a fractured leg and Utley was eventually called safe on the play after a replay review, which showed that Tejada did not touch the bag. The Mets did not get the neighborhood call and the play opened up the inning for the Dodgers, who scored four runs to take the lead.
Wilmer Flores likely take over for Tejada at shortstop and after the game many Mets players questioned the slide by Utley and the calls by the umpire. Utley and Tejada previously had a similar run-in from Utley's time with the Phillies and that came back in 2010. David Wright, Kelly Johnson and other Mets players criticized the slide by Utley and now the team will have to move on without Tejada for the remainder of the playoffs.
The Mets now will have Harvey going in Game 3 against Brett Anderson from the Dodgers. The Mets got solo home runs from Yoenis Cespedes and Michael Conforto to take a 2-0 lead against Greinke and now New York will try and bounce back on Monday at Citi Field.
Check here for the MLB playoff series schedule and more on the Utley play.
