Mets return to New York angry after Utley’s takeout slide

They won’t even come close to a World Series until this planet is devoid of resources and Matthew McConaughey has to search the galaxy for another habitable body. When he was asked if what he saw constituted a late slide, he said, “I thought the whole play happened fast”. That’s not the kind of person we need on Earth. Ruben Tejada comes over, misses the bag.

The immediate focus will be on Utley and Tejada, and my buddy Scott Miller is dealing with all that happened and all the consequences elsewhere on this site. Tejada flipped over Utley and landed hard on his left side.

His throwing error on a squeeze bunt by pitcher Kyle Hendricks scored left fielder Austin Jackson – who reached on a fielder’s choice when second baseman Kolten Wong threw a potential double play ball into his team’s dugout – to ignite the big second inning. “I still don’t think he ever touched the bag until he came back out when the call was reversed. So when the play was overturned, he gets awarded second base on that”. But it turns out, there was no way Utley was going to let him even try. Does that make any sense in the slightest? Yet Utley was ruled safe after an umpire review determined Tejada’s foot wasn’t on the bag when he caught the ball.

A game that started well for the Mets ended terribly, and their NLDS series with the Dodgers is tied at one game apiece. The Mets’ Addison Reed replaced Colon and got the next batter, Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager to fly out for the second out, but the next batter, Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run double down the right-field line to give the Dodgers a 4-2 lead.

All the umps in the postseason have been so undoubtedly terrible. Somebody has to be fired, this is atrocious.

But on this night, in this ballpark, the umpires forgot how to do their jobs, MLB added to the incompetence, and a tremendous baseball game got away from them. Joe Torre, speaking on behalf of the league, revealed on Saturday night that baserunners in the Arizona Fall League this year will be required to slide directly into bags; the Utley play in Game 2 will nearly certainly hurry that change into existence at al professional levels. The same elements were in place: a strong outing from the Dodgers’ experienced and celebrated starter, in this case Zack Greinke and not Clayton Kershaw. A game we all love was instead tarnished by an inexplicable series of blown calls, directly leading to a playoff loss.

Mets legend Rusty Staub, who suffered a heart attack on a plane almost two weeks ago, will be at Citi Field for Monday’s Game 3. Now it’s literally a whole different ballgame.

As for reserve infielder Juan Uribe, he won’t be available in the Division Series but hasn’t been ruled out if the Mets advance to the next round, Alderson said. Was the Utley slide dirty? He crashed into Tejada, whose back was turned to first base. You’re hoping we can get two outs out of this because obviously he went in and got our player before he even touched dirt. “I play hard. I’ve done my fair share of takeout slides, and I’ve never done anything like that”. “He probably did slide late but he didn’t want to hurt anybody”. I’ve never been this livid after a baseball game, and it’s extremely hard to find the right words at the moment. There will absolutely be a few retaliation in game 3, but it has to be smart.

Terry Collins was clearly upset.

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