MLB GAME RECAP

Mets blow out Dodgers to take 2-1 NLDS lead

The Sports Xchange

October 12, 2015 at 9:33 pm.

Oct 12, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets right fielder Curtis Granderson (3) hits an RBI double during the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game three of the NLDS at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Oct 12, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets right fielder Curtis Granderson (3) hits an RBI double during the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers in game three of the NLDS at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

NEW YORK — Right fielder Curtis Granderson tied a franchise postseason record with five RBIs, and the New York Mets came back from an early deficit to rout the Los Angeles Dodgers 13-7 Monday in Game 3 of the National League Division Series at an electrified Citi Field.

The Mets set a team record for runs in a playoff game.

New York leads the series two games to one and will try to close out the Dodgers in Game 4 on Tuesday night, when rookie left-hander Steven Matz gets the start.

With their season on the line, the Dodgers will send three-time Cy Young Award-winning left-hander Clayton Kershaw to the mound on three days’ rest.

Granderson is the fourth Mets player to collect five RBIs in a playoff game. Prior to Monday, the Mets’ record for runs in a postseason game was 12 in Game 4 of the 2006 NL Championship Series.

New York catcher Travis d’Arnaud and left fielder Yoenis Cespedes each homered and finished with three hits and three RBIs.

Right-hander Matt Harvey overcame a rocky second inning to earn the win in his first postseason start. Harvey allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks while striking out seven over five innings.

Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run single, and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez had two hits, including a solo homer. Second baseman Howie Kendrick hit a three-run homer in the ninth.

Left-hander Brett Anderson took the loss after allowing six runs on seven hits and no walks while striking out three over three innings. He lasted fewer than four innings just once in 31 regular-season starts.

Both starters enjoyed 1-2-3 innings in the first before the teams combined for seven runs in the second.

The Dodgers opened the second with three straight singles off Harvey before Grandal, mired in 4-for-78 slump, hit a two-run single to right. The throw from Granderson sailed wide of third baseman David Wright, which allowed left fielder Carl Crawford to score a third run.

The Mets wasted no time answering. D’Arnaud’s RBI single — just his eighth hit in his last 57 at-bats — was the third of four straight singles to open the frame. With two outs and the bases loaded, Granderson atoned for his error by hitting a first-pitch, three-run double to center.

The Dodgers put five runners on base over the next three innings but failed to dent Harvey. The Mets, meanwhile, extended their lead to 6-3 via d’Arnaud’s two-run homer off Casey Stengel’s retired number in left field in the third.

In the fourth, Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy laced a two-out RBI single before Cespedes launched a mammoth three-run shot into the second deck in left to put the Mets up 10-3. Music from “The Natural” played as he rounded the bases.

The eventful first five innings built on an electric pregame atmosphere.

Pregame introductions for the Dodgers began at 8:13 p.m. A chorus of boos from the sellout crowd of 44,276 grew deafening two minutes later upon the introduction of second baseman Chase Utley, who is appealing the two-game suspension for the hard slide that broke Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada’s right fibula in Game 2.

Mets public-address announcer Alex Anthony paused for several seconds as the camera remain fixed on Utley, whose typically stoic expression never wavered.

At 8:22 p.m., the din grew even louder when Tejada exited the dugout and limped, with the use of a cane, to the first base line. Tejada, the last non-Mets starter introduced, doffed his cap to the crowd and tapped his heart.

The first pitch was delayed five minutes when Dodgers manager Don Mattingly alerted the umpires that the replay phone in the visiting dugout was not working.

NOTES: Dodgers ace LHP Clayton Kershaw will start Game 4 on three days’ rest. In his two postseason starts made on three days’ rest, Kershaw is 0-1 and has allowed five runs (three earned) over 12 innings. … Mets LHP Steven Matz held the press conference usually reserved for the next day’s starting pitcher, but manager Terry Collins said he still might start RHP Jacob deGrom on three days’ rest. … The Mets officially added SS Matt Reynolds to their roster in place of SS Ruben Tejada. Reynolds may become the second player in the modern era to make his major league debut in the playoffs. Oakland A’s INF Mark Kiger did it in 2006. Kiger never appeared in a regular-season game in his career. … Dodgers INF Chase Utley has been hit by a pitch 179 times, most among active players. No team has plunked him more than the Mets (28 times).

ALL  |  NFL  |  College Football  |  MLB  |  NBA