NEW YORK — Chase Utley is public enemy No. 1 at Citi Field. Not only did he help beat the Mets so many times while with the Phillies, his brutal take-out slide broke Ruben Tejada’s leg in the NLDS last fall. The slide was so vicious MLB rewrote the take-out slide rules in the offseason.
On Friday, Utley played in Citi Field for the first time since that take-out slide. As you might imagine, the Mets faithful booed the Dodgers second baseman like crazy before his first at-bat:
I’ve heard some loud boos in my day, but boy, that’s right up there with the loudest. Mets fans really, really, really don’t like Utley.
Retaliation never did come, at least not Friday. The Mets did not throw at Utley, and it never even looked like they even attempted to buzz him inside. They pitched him as they normally would. Utley didn’t put the ball in play in his first three at-bats; he drew two walks and struck out.
Baseball has a knack for drama, so Utley stepped to the plate in the ninth inning with the bases loaded and two outs against closer Jeurys Familia. The Mets led 5-2 at the time. Of course it came down to Utley. Of course it did.
What did he do? He broke the hearts of Mets fans yet again with a game-tying bases-clearing double. Check it out:
Gosh, how about that. It’s the kind of thing you watch the evil villain do in a movie, yet this was real life, and Utley tied the game. Incredible.
“It’s only fitting,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts after the game. “Chase, with the expectations in this series and some of things being said, he’s kept an even keel. Every single one of his at-bats was at least professional, and you get Familia throwing 97-98, bases loaded, two outs, the crowd on their feet, and just to get a good pitch to hit and put it in the gap. It takes a special person to do that.”
The game was tied 5-5 in the ninth, and Utley had the big hit. The game was not over though.
Curtis Granderson, the very first batter in the bottom of the ninth inning, swatted a walk-off solo home run off Pedro Baez to give the Mets the 6-5 win (box score). To the action footage:
“These guys, they really battle for each other,” said Mets manager Terry Collins after the game.
Even with Utley’s game-tying double, Mets fans went home very happy Friday. They got to boo their most-hated opposing player and cheer a dramatic walk-off win. You couldn’t have scripted it any better.
