Thursday’s Game 5 of the NLDS could have been Daniel Murphy’s final game in a Mets uniform. But he made sure his career with the team will last for at least one more postseason series.
The Mets second baseman batted 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI, leading New York to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers and a NLCS match-up with the Chicago Cubs. Though Murphy’s home run off Zack Greinke in the sixth inning broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Mets their final lead, his heads-up baserunning arguably put the team in position to win.
In the fourth inning, with the Dodgers defense playing a shift on Lucas Duda that placed third baseman Justin Turner in short right field, Murphy took advantage of the fact that no one was covering third base when Duda drew a walk. Two pitches later, Travis d’Arnaud hit a fly ball into right field foul territory that was deep enough to score Murphy on a sacrifice fly.
(Should right fielder Andre Ethier have let the ball drop and risk keeping d’Arnaud another pitch to hit? Well, there’s an interesting argument.)
New York Mets fans are not always enamored with manager Terry Collins. But a couple of gutsy decisions involving his pitching staff worked out far better it appeared they would. Maybe he was lucky, but right now, the Mets skipper is looking pretty smart.
Starter Jacob deGrom looked nowhere near as sharp as he did in Game 1, struggling to find the same velocity on his fastball. Though he had a 1-0 lead, thanks to a first-inning RBI double from Murphy, deGrom allowed four consecutive singles in the bottom half of the inning, allowing the Dodgers to take a 2-1 lead.
For the next four innings, deGrom put at least one runner on base, yet didn’t allow any to score. With deGrom continuing to look shaky, Collins had Noah Syndergaard ready to go at any moment, but stuck with his starter. That decision paid off, as deGrom held the Dodgers to those two runs until Syndergaard finally took over in the seventh.
Syndergaard was dominant out of the bullpen, consistently hitting 99 to 100 mph on the radar gun and holding the Mets’ 3-2 lead. Keeping him in the game to pitch the eighth seemed like a no-brainer, as there was no better bridge to closer Jeurys Familia in the ninth. Yet despite only throwing 17 pitches, Syndergaard did warm up in the bullpen throughout the game, readying in case deGrom faltered. That workload, along with a possible Game 1 start in the NLCS, may have been why Collins decided to take Syndergaard out and ask Familia to get six outs to finish the game.
It was a baffling decision, relying on Familia to do something he — or any other closer — rarely does. But if Collins wanted to make sure Syndergaard could start Game 1 of the next series, Familiar was his best option. But it was a tremendous risk, one that surely would have left Collins open to a barrage of second-guessing throughout the offseason and spring. If Familia hadn’t worked out, what was the alternative out of the bullpen? Maybe Tyler Clippard?
However, it paid off for the Mets. In the eighth inning, Familia retired the Dodgers in order, including pinch-hitters Carl Crawford and Jimmy Rollins. Familia batted with two runners on the top of the ninth, following a Juan Lagares double and intentional walk to Wilmer Flores. Perhaps a pinch-hitter could have gotten the Mets an insurance run. But Collins stuck with Familia to pitch the ninth inning. And in that final frame, he got Chase Utley to fly out and struck out both A.J. Ellis and Howie Kendrick to end the ballgame.
Greinke struck out nine batters in 6.2 innings, but gave up three runs and six hits. He needed a lot more offense, but Justin Turner was the only consistent threat, batting 3-for-4 with an RBI and stolen base. As mentioned, the Dodgers had several scoring opportunities against deGrom, but could not drive those runs in. With that, another Dodgers postseason ends in disappointment and Don Mattingly’s job status as manager has to be in serious doubt.
The Mets will host Game 1 of the NLCS on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 8:07 p.m. ET on TBS. Jon Lester will start for the Cubs, and despite only pitching Syndergaard for one inning, the Mets will counter with Matt Harvey.
