NEW YORK -- Using big hits rather than beanballs, the New York Mets wiped out the Los Angeles Dodgers and took control of their testy Division Series.
Curtis Granderson drove in five runs with two doubles off the wall, Travis d'Arnaud and Yoenis Cespedes hit home runs, and New York's bats busted loose for a 13-7 victory Monday night that gave the Mets a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-five NL playoff.
New York can reach the NL Championship Series with another victory at home tonight in Game 4.
Ace lefty Clayton Kershaw will start on three days' rest to try and save the Dodgers' season. Hometown rookie Steven Matz goes for the Mets.
A crowd of 44,276 spurred the home team on in its first postseason game at Citi Field, and the Mets broke their postseason scoring record as New York public enemy Chase Utley watched from the Los Angeles bench. The NL East champs quickly erased an early three-run deficit and made a winner of a slow-starting Matt Harvey in his playoff debut.
Utley is the subject of scorn in New York after his late takeout slide Saturday night broke the right leg of Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada at Dodger Stadium.
Manager Terry Collins said before the game Harvey was told not to seek revenge from his spot on the mound.
"This is too big a game. We need to not worry about retaliating," Collins said. "We need to worry about winning. ... We can play angry, but we've got to play under control."
Utley never got in the game and the Mets saved all their hard hits for when they were at the plate.
Harvey labored through five innings in his first outing since missing a mandatory postseason workout and apologizing after he arrived.
Los Angeles lefty Brett Anderson took the loss, yielding 6 runs and 7 hits in 3 ineffective innings.
Granderson's five RBI matched a Mets postseason record set by Carlos Delgado in Game 4 of the 2006 NLCS at St. Louis, when New York set its previous postseason high with 12 runs.
Revved-up fans showed up early hungering for payback against Utley, left out of the lineup despite strong career numbers vs. Harvey (6 for 18 with a home run).
Regular starter Howie Kendrick remained at second base, and Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said Utley was on the bench not for safety but solely "baseball reasons."
Utley was eligible to play after appealing a two-game suspension for his slide, deemed illegal after a review by Major League Baseball.
Utley stared stone-faced straight into the lens while a camera lingered on his face for a few extra seconds as loud boos rang out during pregame introductions, .
Some fans waved orange towels with cutouts of Utley's face in the bull's-eye of a target. One sign near the first base dugout read: "Chase Ugly Is Still Philthy," a nod to his 12-plus years playing Mets nemesis for rival Philadelphia. And even New York Mayor Bill de Blasio weighed in, calling Utley "guilty as sin."
Meanwhile, Tejada raised his fist to a rousing ovation when he was introduced in full uniform alongside teammates. With a walking boot and a cane, he hobbled out to the baseline as fans -- some carrying "WinForRuben" signs with his face on them -- chanted the shortstop's name.
Just as Harvey got set to throw first pitch, there was more confusion. Mattingly and Collins each huddled with umpires during a 5-minute delay because the replay phone in the Dodgers' dugout was on the fritz.
In the middle of the first inning came an announcement that the line was fully operational.
And perhaps fittingly, Kendrick, the first batter of the game, hit a grounder to shortstop -- where fan-favorite sub Wilmer Flores fielded it flawlessly on his backhand.
Sports on 10/13/2015