Mets' bats blast Dodgers in Game 3, Face Kershaw tomorrow

METS 13
DODGERS 4
NYM lead series 2-1

This was supposed to be Matt Harvey's night to dominant on a grand stage. It was also supposed to be the night that the Mets would get even with Chase Utley and plunk the infielder for aggressively running into Ruben Tejada in Game 2. Instead it turned into a night for the Mets offense to dominant, as New York pounded the Los Angeles Dodgers 13-4, to take a 2-1 series lead. Sometimes the best revenge is a good ole smackdown.

New York is now one win away from the League Championship Series. The Mets will have to get through Clayton Kershaw to make that happen.

Harvey wasn't great for New York in his first ever postseason start, in fact it is easy to say considering the hype around it it was a disappointment. The Dodgers tagged Harvey for three runs of four consecutive hits in the second inning to put the Mets in a 3-0 hole. With Clayton Kershaw looming on Tuesday night, a total implosion by Harvey would be quite unfortunate.

But, leave it to the Mets offense to figure it out and pick up Harvey. Yoenis Cespedes and Lucas Duda would single to open up the second inning. Then, Travis d'Arnaud lined a single into the gap to score Cespedes to make it a 3-1 game. Three batters later, Curtis Granderson tattooed a pitch off the top of the wall in left-center to clear the bases to make it 4-3 Mets.

That four-run inning stunned the Dodgers and was only the beginning of the Mets onslaught.

In the bottom of the third, d'Arnaud cracked a two-run homer to left field to push the Mets to a 6-3 lead. That was a huge home run because Harvey was pitching on fumes after three innings, and needed the run support.

Fast forward to the bottom of the fourth and the Mets totally unloaded on the Dodgers. A double by Jaun Lagares and a walk to David Wright was followed by a RBI single by Daniel Murphy to make it 7-3, New York. Finally, Yoenis Cespedes put the exclamation point on the night with a three-run blast into the second level of left left to give the Mets a 10-3 lead.

As for Harvey, he would give the Mets five innings, allowing three runs, two earned on seven hits. While he didn't have his best stuff, Harvey did just enough to get the ball to Bartolo Colon and the Mets bullpen.

The Mets capped off their terrific night with a three-run rally in the seventh inning, with a sac fly by Michael Conforto and a two-run double by Granderson made it 13-4.

NOTES: There was no retaliation by the Mets for Chase Utley's slide into Ruben Tejada. Both managers agreed before hand that there would be no extra circulars between the two ball clubs, and the result was a clean game. Speaking of Utley, perhaps his appeal of a two-game suspension was the best thing for Mets fans, who got the chance to boo him during player introductions. The fans would spend the rest of the night chanting "we want Utley." Utley never pinch hit in the game.

Granderson had a huge day, going 2-of-5 with 5 RBI. d'Arnaud and Cespedes were both 3-of-5 with three RBI and a home run a piece.  The Mets will start Steven Matz on Tuesday night against Clayton Kershaw.