Mets playoffs: Chase Utley likely available for Game 3

Following his terrible takeout of Ruben Tejada in Game 2 of the NLDS on Saturday night, Chase Utley was suspended for two games by Major League Baseball. Utley has, of course, appealed that suspension, and Major League Baseball would like to have it all resolved before Game 3 tonight at Citi Field.

But it sounds like that will not happen, as Ken Rosenthal detailed on Twitter. Essentially, the Major League Baseball Players Association wants more time to prepare Utley's case for the appeal hearing, and it sounds like they're going to get it.

That would make Utley available for tonight's game, where he just might walk into Citi Field as the most-loathed opposing player in Mets history. It seemed like John Rocker would never lose that title, but here we are. The Mets are obviously without Ruben Tejada for the rest of the series, and they've brought up infielder Matt Reynolds, who played quite a bit of shortstop in Triple-A Las Vegas, to back up Wilmer Flores at the position. It'd be great if Utley went hitless on the night while Flores did something big with the bat to help the Mets win.