Game-2 of the 2015 National League Division Series will forever be remembered for one thing and one thing only – the Chase Utley takeout slide that left Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada with a broken left leg and Utley possibly facing disciplinary action from Major League Baseball. But while opinions on Utley’s slide range from it being perfectly legal to a demand for Utley’s head, it was not the only huge play in the Dodgers eventual 5-2 win over the Mets to tie the series at one game apiece.

There is no argument that the clutch two-run double by Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez in the explosive seventh inning was the ultimate game-changer, nor can anyone say that Howie Kendrick’s game-tying RBI fielders choice wasn’t huge, but long before either and long before Utley’s now infamous (and controversial) takeout slide was a six-pitch at-bat by Dodgers center fielder Kiké Hernandez that would alter the course of baseball history.

After striking out Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning, Mets rookie phenom right-hander Noah Syndergaard – who hovered around the 100-MPH mark in the first two innings – threw a series of sliders and change-ups to Hernandez who, after taking a couple of very close pitches, worked out a walk – one of four allowed by Syndergaard on the night to accompany his nine strikeouts.

“I don’t know how I laid off that 3-2 slider, but I did,” Hernandez told AM 570 LA Sports radio’s David Vassegh after the game.

After drawing a one-out walk and stealing second base, Kiké Hernandez advanced to third on Justin Turner’s single. His walk would prove to be the catalyst for things to come.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Little did Hernandez or anyone else know at the time, his one-out walk would set into motion a series of events that would not only change the outcome of the game but quite possibly the outcome of the entire series.

Kiké’s walk was followed by an even more enormous steal of second base by the 24-year-old San Juan, Puerto Rico native. Although not necessarily known for his speed, Hernandez was able to take advantage of Syndergaard’s estimated 1.5-seconds to the plate time and easily made it into second base ahead of the throw by Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud.

Down by a score of 2-1 and with Hernandez now in scoring position, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly opted to have Utley pinch-hit for right-hander Zack Greinke, who was at the 110-pitch mark. Utley promptly looped Syndergaard’s 115th pitch into shallow right field for a single, sending Hernandez to third to put runners at the corners still with only one out. It would be Syndergaard’s final pitch of the night as Mets manager Terry Collins brought in 42-year-old Bartolo Colon to replace him.

This brought Dodgers leadoff batter Howie Kendrick to the plate who, to this point, was 3 for 7 (.428) in the Division Series. It was Kendrick’s high chopper into the Mets defensive shift that led to the ill-fated play at second base in which Tejada had to reach awkwardly for the toss form second baseman Daniel Murphy. Utley’s takeout slide – in which he was initially ruled out – prevented what might have been an inning-ended double play and allowed Hernandez (because of his stolen base) to score the tying run from third.

While Tejada was being attended to by both the Mets and Dodgers’ medical staffs, Dodgers video coordinator Johnny Pratt was taking another look at the controversial play at second base and noticed that Tejada had missed the bag with his right foot, prompting Mattingly to call for a review of the play. Sure enough and to add insult to injury (literally), the initial out call was overturned and Utley returned to second base after Tejada was carted off the field.

Whether Chase Utley’s slide was dirty or not is subject to opinion – and there are many of them being floated out there. (Photo credit: Sean Haffey – Click on image to view video courtesy of TBS)

With runners at first and second and Colon still on the mound for the Mets, Adrian Gonzalez ripped a double into the right field gap, scoring both Utley and Kendrick with AGon taking third on the throw home, thus giving the Dodgers their first lead in the series with a score of 4-2. Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner followed with a double of his own scoring Gonzalez to make it a 5-2 game.

Although AGon’s two-RBI double proved to be the game-winning hit, it was the walk and stolen base by Kiké Hernandez that set the stage for the Dodgers controversial 5-2 win over the Mets.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Dodgers set-up man Chris Hatcher pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning that included two strikeouts and Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen sealed the deal with a strikeout, a walk and two short fly outs to right – the first caught by right fielder Yasiel Puig and the second by Kendrick.

Also lost in the fray was the outstanding pitching performance by 2015 NL Cy Young hopeful Zack Greinke, who allowed only two runs (both solo home runs) on five hits while walking none and striking out eight. Because he was still the pitcher of record during the bottom half of that fateful seventh inning, he earned the Game-2 win.

Even though Greinke gave up two solo home runs, he kept his team in the game with yet another outstanding performance. (Photo credit – Jon SooHoo)

Although you can absolutely count on a lot more discussion and debate over the Utley takeout slide in the coming days and weeks, MLB chief baseball officer Joe Torre – who called Utley’s slide “a little late” – said that the call at second base was “a judgement call” by the umpires. Additionally, Collins – who also thought the slide was a bit late – said that he was okay with the call and that he and his team are ready to play Game-3 in New York on Monday evening.

“[The umpires] just said he didn’t touch the bag. But certainly my argument is, you know, the road block,” Collins said in his postgame interview. “You go to all your available arguments. The road block, is it a neighborhood play? He didn’t touch the bag. All the things that… the umpires handled it great. They said we reviewed the whole thing and obviously we didn’t think it was a good throw, so the neighborhood play was out. They thought that it’s pretty hard to rule that he didn’t touch the bag when he hit the shortstop and nobody was tagged, so they have no other call. So they handled it right.”

Will there be any retribution by his team when the two teams meet again on Monday night at Citi Field?

“Well, you’ve got to take the emotion and keep your focus. You can’t lose control,” Collins said. “So we’ll show up. I think that our guys will certainly be very, very anxious to get back on the field on Monday.”

I’ll let you draw your own conclusions on that one.