New York Mets, Ruben Tejada fall victim to controversial play

The New York Mets suffered a very difficult loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 2 that was highlighted by a controversial play in the seventh inning.

After the Mets’ Game 1 victory against Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers on Friday night, they were able to take that momentum into Game 2 early on.

Going against Zack Greinke is no easy task, but that didn’t intimidate the Mets in the second inning. Yoenis Cespedes got things started for the Mets with a solo home run in the second inning for his first of the playoffs.

A few batters later in the second inning, Michael Conforto introduced himself to playoff baseball with a solo home run of his own, which made it a 2-0 game.

More from New York Mets

In the fourth inning, the Dodgers would get to Noah Syndergaard, as a double by Andre Ethier scored Justin Turner for their first run of the game.

The seventh inning is when things got wild in Los Angeles. A walk to Enrique Hernandez would be followed by Hernandez stealing second base against Syndergaard. Chase Utley would then get a base hit just over the reach of Daniel Murphy, but it was close enough to keep Hernandez from breaking on the ball right away.

With runners on the corners, Terry Collins would turn to Bartolo Colon with runners on the corners and one out. Howie Kendrick would line a ball up the middle which Murphy got to, but the flip to Ruben Tejada would lead to a lot of controversy in this game. Tejada would be taken out on a slide by Chase Utley at second base which broke up the double play and also broke Tejada’s fibula.

The strange thing that happened afterwards was that despite neither player touching the bag and Utley leaving the field, Utley was awarded the bag by rule.

With the game tied 2-2 and two runners on, Adrian Gonzalez would plate both Utley and Kendrick with an RBI double to make it 4-2. Justin Turner would give the Dodgers some insurance with an RBI double of his own to score Gonzalez.

The loss is a very difficult one, as the situation at second base with Tejada and Utley may be looked back upon as a turning point in the series.

The Dodgers needed to get a win at home in Game 2 with Grienke on the mound or their season would have been all but over with the series shifting to Citi Field.

Matt Harvey will be taking the hill for the Mets in the pivotal Game 3, as the Mets will be looking to regain the lead in the series.

Next: Who is the greatest first baseman in Mets history?

More from Empire Writes Back

Home/New York Mets