Better late than never for Dodgers in win over Mets

LOS ANGELES -- What will likely be remembered as one of the most controversial plays in postseason lore turned the Dodgers' season around on Saturday night, in a 5-2 win over the Mets in Game 2 of their National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium.

Down 2-1 in the seventh inning with one out and runners at the corners, a ground ball up the middle by Howie Kendrick turned into a force play at second base. Any chance at a double play ended when shortstop Ruben Tejada got turned around while accepting the feed from second baseman Daniel Murphy.

Any chance at Tejada's season continuing ended moments later when Chase Utley executed a hard, late takeout slide, undercutting the fielder as the tying run scored.

This is the point where the Dodgers got insanely lucky. Utley had no chance at touching second base, which could have resulted in an inning-ending double play awarded by the umpires, negating the tying run. Instead, the play was reviewed, and Tejada was ruled to have not touched second base, so Utley, who walked off the field, was ruled safe.

Tejada could not walk off the field on his own power. He was carted off, and suffered a broken right fibula on the play.

The Dodgers, given new life with a tie game and two runners on, saw Adrian Gonzalez deliver the tie-breaking double into the right field corner to score two runs. Gonzalez for the second straight night struck out three times against the Mets starter, this time against Noah Syndergaard, then collected a run-scoring hit against a Mets reliever.

Justin Turner followed with another double, his second straight multi-hit game against his former team, for a four-run inning and a 5-2 Dodgers lead.

The rally turned Zack Greinke from a hard-luck loser into the Game 2 winner, after striking out eight while allowing two runs in his seven innings.

Instead of lamenting the possibility of this being Greinke's final start with Los Angeles, the Dodgers suddenly have new life with a tied series heading to New York, where the boos will be even more deafening.

Game 3 particulars

Home runs: Yoenis Cespedes (1), Michael Conforto (1)

WP - Zack Greinke (1-0): 7 IP, 5 hits, 2 runs, 8 strikeouts

LP - Noah Syndergaard (0-1): 6⅓ IP, 5 hits, 3 runs, 4 walks, 9 strikeouts

Sv - Kenley Jansen (1): 1 IP, 1 walk, 1 strikeout