Chase Utley appeal will not be heard before Game 3

reporting from NEW YORK — The appeal hearing for Dodgers infielder Chase Utley will not be held Monday and is “unlikely” to be held Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorized to discuss it publicly.

Utley remains eligible to play pending the hearing, so he would be available for the Dodgers in Game 3 of the National League division series Monday night at Citi Field.

Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said it would “definitely be a possibility” that Utley would start. Howie Kendrick has started the first two games of the series at second base for the Dodgers, but Utley has a .333 batting average in 18 career at-bats against Mets starter Matt Harvey.

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Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada suffered a broken leg when Utley upended him on a slide in Saturday’s Game 2. On Sunday night, Major League Baseball suspended him for two games, citing a rule “designed to protect fielders from precisely this type of rolling block.”

Utley’s agent, Joel Wolfe, called the suspension “outrageous and completely unacceptable.” He added: “We routinely see plays at second base similar to this one that have not resulted in suspensions.”

The league had hoped to hold the appeal hearing Monday but cannot do so unilaterally. The Major League Baseball Players Assn. is entitled to preparatory time needed to research similar incidents and disciplinary precedents.

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