The night that was supposed to be about Chase Utley instead became about a ground ball. A ground ball that should have been an out and instead led to a 13-7 New York Mets rout of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.

It was a ground ball scorched off the bat of New York Mets left fielder Yoenis Cespedes straight into a shift the Los Angeles Dodgers had set up specifically to keep him from reaching base. This was in the bottom of the second inning with the Mets already down 3-0 and an angst lingering in Citi Field that Utley, the Dodgers infielder, had broken New York when he broke Ruben Tejada’s leg two nights before.

Los Angeles had three infielders on the left side of second base when Cespedes drilled his grounder into the glove of Dodgers shortstop Jimmy Rollins. Given the ball was hit so hard, it seemed certain Cespedes would be New York’s first out of the inning. But Cespedes sprinted towards first base anyway.

“In a short series I need a mentality to play fast and play hard because there won’t be many opportunities,” he later said.

His cleats were a blaze of blue under the stadium lights. His legs churned; dirt kicked from his feet. Rollins was in short left field when he picked up Cespedes’s grounder. The throw was longer than a shortstop normally makes. And Rollins didn’t seem to get any extra velocity on the heave. By the time the ball landed in the glove of Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, Cespedes was safe.

At the time, the Cespedes single didn’t seem to matter but it appeared to frustrate Dodgers pitcher Brett Anderson who then gave up another single and one after that and one more still. After Curtis Granderson smashed a line drive off the right center field wall, the Mets were up 4-3.

Two innings later New York had six more runs and the game was all but over. Aside from a few stray taunts from the fans, Utley was an afterthought. The man who had seemingly changed the series two games ago never got off the bench.

“He [Cespedes] shows you what he can do,” Mets manager Terry Collins said after the game. “This guy’s electrifying on the field. He can do anything he wants and that kind of hustle shows that he’s determined to – again – to get us on, let us ride his back. He’s a dangerous player.”

It is strange how this series has gone. Twice, a player who was not with his team two months ago has dramatically changed the direction of the series. The Game 2 slide of Utley, picked up in an August trade, ignited a rally that allowed the Dodgers to overcome a 2-0 deficit. Now Cespedes, acquired from the Tigers, has helped to take a game back for the Mets.

He had another single on Monday and also crushed a long home run to left field. He finished with three runs and three RBIs. And maybe this was the best retribution for what happened to Tejada, a player with whom he is friends.

Before the game, the Mets held a team meeting in a batting cage underneath the stadium stands. They said that Utley was not in the lineup and therefore was not of their concern. “I don’t believe in taking somebody else out,” Cespedes said.

Instead he ran a hole in the Dodgers hopes of advancing to the National League Championship Series.

The Dodgers are forced to start their top pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, in Tuesday’s Game 4. Kershaw will pitch on three days’ rest instead of his normal four. This has not worked out well for him in the past; the triple Cy Young-winner has now lost five straight postseason starts. After Cespedes’s sprint to first and the Mets’ subsequent rally, there is no margin for error for Kershaw. Los Angeles has to win to keep its season alive.

And the magic of Cespedes continues. There is no telling what would have happened to the Mets were they unable to make the deal for him at the trade deadline. Their lineup had been awful until he arrived. Scoring runs was impossible. Then they came to life almost as soon as he was dealt to New York.

On Monday he a ground ball that should have been an out. Most players would have accepted this. But instead Cespedes ran. He ran as fast as he could. And in the moment he crossed first base, Chase Utley ceased to be relevant.

He had turned an out into a hit.

And he turned a series that was quickly being lost into a win the Mets desperately needed.