Amidst the endless chants of “Ut-Ley Sucks!” at every plate appearance at Citi Field on Saturday night, Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley quietly went 2 for 5 on the night (both home runs) with five runs batted in; this following his four-RBI night on Friday. And while the raucous Mets crowd started out strong, his seventh inning grand slam pretty much took the wind out of their collective sails, leaving the 42,227 (very) biased crowd both stunned and suddenly quiet.

Utley’s seventh-inning grand slam off of Mets right-hander Hansel Robles effectively took the Mets – and their fans – out of the game. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

But it wasn’t just Utley’s two home runs that had the crowd irritable, it was their hero – the mighty Noah “Thor” Syndergaard – being ejected by home plate umpire Adam Hamari after throwing a 99-MPH fastball behind Utley’s head with one out and nobody on in the top of the third inning.

Was it intentional? According to Utley he was expecting it but he would not elaborate any further following the Dodgers 9-1 pounding of the Mets.

“You never know because baseball is a crazy game,” Utley said. “You never know what to expect. Overall, I thought we played well tonight. We came together as a group, we battled, and it was a good win.”

But while most of the baseball world will undoubtedly be debating the Syndergaard and Mets manager Terry Collins’ ejections for days or even weeks to come, something else happened on Saturday night that, for the most part, flew under the radar of most Dodger fans.

Making his Dodgers debut in the bottom of the ninth inning of Saturday night’s lopsided Dodgers win was right-handed reliever Casey Fien, who the Dodgers claimed off waivers from the Minnesota Twins on May 9. All Fien did was strike out the side on 12 pitches (11 of them strikes) to end the game and secure the win for Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda (4-3, 3,00 ERA).

If recently acquired right-hander Casey Fien continues to pitch the way that he did in his Dodgers debut on Saturday night, he could prove to be exactly what the Dodgers have long needed in their oft-criticized bullpen. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Prior to being claimed by the Dodgers, Fien appeared in 14 games for the Twins this season, where he struck out 12 and walked three in his 13.2 innings pitched. The 32-year-old Santa Rosa, California native appeared in 208 games for the Twins over the past three seasons. Fien’s best season with Minnesota came in 2013 when he posted a 5-1 record and 3.92 ERA – this to go along with his excellent 1.02 WHIP. He also struck out 73 that season while walking only 12.

Fien briefly appeared with the Detroit Tigers in 2009 and 2010 before becoming a permanent figure in the Twins bullpen from 2012-2016. He was originally selected by the Tigers in the 20th round of the 2006 MLB First Year Player Draft out of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Although it’s hard to argue that the momentum wasn’t seriously in the Dodgers’ court on Saturday night, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that Fien was absolutely brilliant – at least against the three Mets batters that he faced.

Could Fien be just the guy that the Dodgers have been looking for to help their inconsistent and occasionally disastrous bullpen?

Stay tuned…