Revenge served by 44,000 maniacal New York Mets fans
New York Mets outfielder Curtis Granderson (3) follows through on a double to centerfield, scoring three runs against the Dodgers during the second inning.
A fastball to the ribs might be the time-honored method of retaliation. A dagger to the heart was so much more enjoyable for the New York Mets.
The Mets shoved the Dodgers to the brink of elimination on Monday and, oh, what a party it was at Citi Field.
This was about as cathartic as nine innings could get. The anger and rage in the wake of Ruben Tejada’s broken leg gave way to celebration and joy, and eventually to a few gleeful rounds of mass taunting from the oh-so-vocal faithful.
The Mets humbled the Dodgers. The team that is happy to be here for the first time in nine years is one victory from sending the “World Series or bust” Dodgers to a third consecutive bust.
All that talk about slides up high, and fastballs high and tight, evaporated into a fireworks display. Boom! Four runs in the second inning. Boom! Two more in the third inning, and four more in the fourth.
Revenge was served by 44,000 maniacal fans, the loudest crowd in Citi Field history.
The only warning that needed to be issued, it turned out, was the same one issued in Los Angeles all year: the Dodgers have an incomplete pitching staff.
Chase who?
“The greatest retaliation,” Mets outfielder Michael Cuddyer said, “is winning the game.”
The Mets led by seven runs, led by nine, won by six. They scored 13, the most ever against the Dodgers in a postseason game. First the crowd let the Dodgers have it, and then the Mets let the Dodgers have it.
“I know the offense definitely fed off their emotions,” Mets pitcher Matt Harvey said.
Emotions had run high in New York for a couple days, since the Dodgers’ Chase Utley had taken out the Mets’ Ruben Tejada with a slide on Saturday at Dodger Stadium. Tejada suffered a broken leg. Utley became a tabloid target.
Mets Manager Terry Collins ordered his team not to retaliate. The fans would take care of that. As the pregame introductions began, it was clear that the fans had brought their game.
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The Dodgers lined up first. The “Utley Sucks” chants started immediately. When the introductions started, the traveling secretary was booed, and the clubhouse manager, and the assistant athletic trainer.
That was all throat clearing. Utley got his turn, and the venom was audible venom. The camera got up close and personal with Utley, who would not grant the fans the satisfaction of even the slightest facial expression. The camera lingered. Utley did not frown, or grin, or even so much as blink.
“The boos at the introductions were kind of a big statement,” Harvey said.
Then the Mets lined up. Their reserves were introduced — and, oh wait, the Mets had one more. Tejada limped onto the field, in uniform and in a walking boot, steadying himself with a cane. The Mets players had seen Tejada in the clubhouse but had no idea how he would be integrated into the pregame routine.
The players were delighted. The place went absolutely bonkers. It was a Kirk Gibson moment, without the actual at-bat.
Then the game started, and the evening turned into a festival. The runs flowed freely, and so did the chants.
Whenever the Dodgers used a pinch-hitter: “We want Utley!” Whenever a Mets batter so much as leaned back at a pitch: “Utley sucks.” When Yoenis Cespedes ended any suspense with a mammoth home run in the sixth inning, into the second deck: “We want Utley!”
“It was loud from the moment you stepped out of the dugout,” Cuddyer said.
The Mets players did not have to say a word. The scoreboard said it all for them.
“Scoring as many runs as we did, that kind of did all the talking,” Harvey said.
Mets infielder Daniel Murphy gently disputed the notion that the margin of victory made it all the sweeter for the players.
“It’s a really excited clubhouse in here,” he said. “I don’t think we can be any more satisfied.”
The fans? They might still be chanting for Utley.
Follow Bill Shaikin on Twitter @BillShaikin
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