Mets' Ruben Tejada suffers broken leg on vicious Chase Utley slide
Last night, New York Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada was carted off the field after suffering a broken right leg during a takeout slide by Los Angelers Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley.
Saturday night, New York Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada was carted off the field after suffering a broken right leg during a takeout slide by Los Angelers Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley. The controversial play led to a two game suspension for Utley, a move his agent called "outrageous and completely unacceptable."
The vicious slide, which occurred in the seventh inning of Game 2 of the NL Division Series, led to a four-run inning for the Dodgers, who went on to win, 5-2.
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The Mets were leading, 2-1, when the Dodgers put runners at the corners with one out against Noah Syndergaard. Bartolo Colon relieved, and Howie Kendrick hit a grounder up the middle.
Second baseman Daniel Murphy flipped to Tejada, who took the throw awkwardly for an apparent force as Utley slid past the bag and slammed into him, causing Tejada to flip over as the tying run scored from third.
Many were quick to criticize Utley's slide, including Mets third basemen David Wright.
"There's a way to play the game hard, but only Chase knows going in there what his intent was," Wright said. "In my opinion, he wasn't anywhere close to the bag.
Predictably, New York tabloids were up in arms over the play, which they claim cost them the game and a 2-0 series lead.
Utley also had his defenders, including former Phillies outfielder and teammate Shane Victorino.
Ryan Lawrence, the Phillies beat reporter for the Daily News, covered Utley for many years and didn't think the slide was intentially vicious:
Phillies fans know hard slides are nothing new for Utley. Just a month ago, Utley journeyed a bit out of the baseline to take out San Diego Padres shortstop Jedd Gyorko.
It's not even the first time Utley has been involved in a takeout slide with Tejada. Back in 2010, Utley slid hard into the 20-year-old rookie, but was unable to prevent a double play.
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After that game, Wright voiced his disapproval about Utley's slide to ESPN's Adam Rubin:
"Chase, he plays the game hard. He plays the game passionately. But there's a thin line between going out there and playing the game hard and going out there trying to get somebody hurt. That's a thin line. Nobody is going to push us around. We're going to have our teammate's back. I think cooler heads prevailed, but we've got to let them know that over on our side we didn't appreciate it and that we're going to go out there and have our teammates' backs. I think our bench let him know. As far as I'm concerned, it's done. We move on. We'll reevaluate the way we go into second base."