Did Phillies Garrett Stubbs get away with vicious slide on game-ending double play?

While the New York Mets secured a come-from-behind win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the second and final game of the London Series, not all fans went home happy thanks to a questionable slide from Garrett Stubbs.

Stubbs, a catcher in his own right, went in hard to Mets catcher Luis Torrens as he threw the ball to first base for the final out. Stubbs hope, of course, was that Torrens throw would go awry due to the hard contact with his lower body. Rather, Torrens hung in there until the last possible minute and rifled a throw to first base.

Torrens was clearly hobbled after the play, but was able to walk off the field under his own power.

Did the Phillies get away with a dirty slide on Mets' Luis Torrens?

The video replay actually provides a far better look at the action, with Stubbs going out of his way to make contact with Torrens foot/ankle area. While technically not illegal, Stubbs slide certainly inspires Chase Utley comparisons.

Utley, ironically enough, was at the ballpark on Sunday and even made an appearance in the booth on the ESPN broadcast.

Again, Stubbs did not directly violate any rule. He stayed within the basepaths, and did not break the so-called 'Buster Posey rule' by unnecessarily making contact with the catcher. Here's how MLB defines the rule:

"By rule, the baserunner is not allowed to deviate from his direct path to initiate contact with the catcher (or any player covering the plate). Runners are considered to be in violation of this rule if they collide with the catcher in cases where a slide could have been used to avoid the collision. If the umpire determines that the runner violated this rule, the runner shall be ruled out and the ball is dead. The other runners must return to the last base they had touched at the time of the collision."

While it could be argued that Stubbs didn't have to make contact with Torrens, he did slide and was in the basepaths, thus following this rule to a tee. Mets fans frustration stems from an injury suffered by Francisco Alvarez earlier this season.

While Alvarez wasn't involved in a home-plate collision, he is one of the bright young backstops in all of baseball, and has been forced out of action with a torn ligament in his thumb. Since then, the Mets have been forced to turn to Torrens, Tomas Nido and the recently-DFA'd Omar Narvaez.