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          New York Mets

          Mets on Game 3 victory: 'The greatest retaliation is winning the game'

          • Adam Rubin, ESPN Staff WriterOct 13, 2015, 05:55 AM
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              Adam Rubin has covered the Mets since 2003. He's a graduate of Mepham High School on Long Island and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He joined ESPNNewYork after spending 10 years at the New York Daily News.
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          NEW YORK -- The New York Mets did not need to plunk Chase Utley, or any member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, to get revenge Monday night.

          Two days after Ruben Tejada's postseason ended on a late takeout slide from Utley, the Mets thrashed the Dodgers 13-7 in Game 3 at Citi Field behind five RBIs from Curtis Granderson and homers from Travis d'Arnaud and Yoenis Cespedes.

          "We had a meeting in the batting cage before the game," Cespedes said through an interpreter. "We were just thinking along the lines that Utley was not playing, and essentially what's done is done, and we really just need to go out there with the mentality to win. That's how we got back for him."

          Said Michael Cuddyer: "The greatest retaliation is winning the game."

          The Utley incident only added fuel to a raucous atmosphere at Citi Field, where Mets fans were celebrating the team's first postseason game in Queens since 2006.

          "I don't think I've ever played at home with this many fans in the stands," Cespedes said. "It didn't happen in Oakland. It didn't happen in Detroit. It didn't happen in Boston. I think it's something that really added to how well we played."

          Commissioner Rob Manfred met with both managers and general managers before the first pitch to ensure that nothing would be done to tarnish the National League Division Series. Utley never appeared in the game, and the Mets never sought retaliation against another player.

          Fans lustily jeered Utley during introductions, then chanted "UT-LEY SUCKS" and "WE WANT UT-LEY" through the game. Tejada was wildly cheered by fans when he used a Mets-themed cane and took the field after Mets reserves were introduced pregame.

          "I think the boos at the introductions were kind of a big statement leading into the game," said Matt Harvey, who labored through five innings en route to earning the win. "We knew the biggest thing going in was coming out on top and scoring as many runs as we did. That kind of did all the talking. So, for us, it was stay focused, go out and let our play do all the talking, and all that stuff will be resolved later."

          Said manager Terry Collins: "We knew going in it was going to be loud, it was going to be a lot of energy. The response when our guys came on the field was unbelievable. Certainly Ruben, him walking out there, I thought, meant a lot to all the guys on the club and the fan base. They were tremendous."

          The Mets now lead the series 2-1. They can close out the NLDS on Tuesday at Citi Field with Steven Matz on the mound. They will have to beat Clayton Kershaw to avoid the series going back to Los Angeles for a matchup of Jacob deGrom and Zack Greinke on Thursday.

          "We came into this knowing we were going to see him twice and possibly Greinke twice," Collins said about Kershaw. "That's a tall order for anybody, for any team. But it is what it is. So if we can get our guys home so they can get some decent sleep, they'll come back ready for tomorrow. He's tough, but he's coming back on short rest. I don't know how long a leash he's going to have, but we gotta make him work as we did the other day in Los Angeles."